The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is set to initiate the process of forming the new government in Bihar within the next two to three days following its resounding victory in the assembly elections. The NDA secured a commanding mandate of 202 out of 243 seats in the state legislature (BJP: 89, JD(U): 85, LJP(RV): 19, HAM(S): 5, RLM: 4).

The initial discussions and groundwork began on Saturday with leaders of all alliance partners meeting in Patna to congratulate Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and plan the subsequent steps.

The Immediate Steps for Government Formation

The process of constituting the 18th Bihar assembly, which must be completed before the current term expires on November 22, 2025, will begin with the following key steps:

1. Resignation and Swearing-in Date: Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, as the first constitutional step, is expected to meet Governor Arif Mohammad Khan to submit his resignation and discuss the date for the swearing-in ceremony of the new government.
2. Legislative Party Meetings: The core of the process involves all five NDA constituent parties holding separate meetings of their newly elected legislators to formally choose their respective leaders.
   • The Janata Dal (United) is scheduled to hold its legislative party meeting on Monday.
   • The BJP, LJP(RV), HAM-S, and RLM will also convene similar meetings soon.
3. Election of NDA Leader: After the individual party meetings conclude, a joint meeting of the entire NDA alliance will be convened to formally elect the leader of the coalition, who will then be sworn in as the Chief Minister.

Bihar BJP president Dilip Jaiswal confirmed that the party’s central leadership would finalize the schedule for the joint meeting and announce the details, with everything expected to be decided within the next two days.

Key Political Developments

• Chirag Paswan’s Stance: Union minister and LJP(RV) leader Chirag Paswan met CM Nitish Kumar on Saturday.Paswan, whose party made a major comeback by winning 19 seats, expressed his personal opinion that Nitish Kumar should continue as Chief Minister but maintained that the final decision rests with the elected legislators of the alliance. Paswan also confirmed his party’s readiness to “actively participate” in the new government.
• BJP Internal Discussions: The Bharatiya Janata Party, which emerged as the single-largest party with 89 seats, held a meeting of its top leaders on Saturday. The party will soon appoint central observers to oversee the meeting where its MLAs will elect a leader.
• Central Leadership Coordination: Senior leaders, including JD(U)’s Rajiv Ranjan Singh and Sanjay Jha, met CM Kumar to discuss the formation process and are likely to hold further consultations with senior BJP leaders in New Delhi. BJP’s Bihar election in-charge Dharmendra Pradhan and Vinod Tawde also met with Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi on Saturday.
• Public Gratitude: The Bihar BJP is set to hold a thanksgiving march in all districts of Bihar on Sunday to express gratitude to the voters for the landslide victory.

The strong mandate of 202 seats ensures the NDA alliance will form a stable and powerful government, with the focus now shifting to cabinet formation and policy direction.

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