October 2005 Bihar Legislative Assembly election

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243 seats in the Bihar Legislative Assembly
Turnout	45.85%
Majority party Minority party Third party   Leader Nitish Kumar Sushil Modi Rabri Devi Party JD(U) BJP RJD Alliance NDA NDA UPA Leader since 2005 2005 1997 Leader's seat MLC Did not contest Raghopur Last election 55 37 75 Seats won 88 55 54 Seat change 33 18 21 Popular vote 4,819,759 3,686,720 5,525,081 Percentage 20.46% 15.65% 23.45% Swing 5.91% 4.68% 1.62%   Fourth party   Leader Sadanand Singh Party INC Alliance UPA Leader since 2005 Leader's seat Kahalgong (lost) Last election 10 Seats won 9 Seat change 1 Popular vote 1,435,449 Percentage 6.09% Swing 1.09%
District map of Bihar
Chief Minister before election Rabri Devi RJD Elected Chief Minister Nitish Kumar JD(U)

Bihar Assembly elections were held twice in the year 2005. There was a fractured verdict in the February 2005 Assembly Election. Since no government could be formed in Bihar, fresh elections were held in October–November the same year.^[1]

The Janata Dal (United) emerged as the majority seat winner after the Oct- Nov 2005 election, and ruled along with the Bharatiya Janata Party (2nd Highest) as part of the National Democratic Alliance. The incumbent chief minister was Nitish Kumar.

One of the oldest political parties in India, The Indian national Congress surprisingly finished 4th and 5th in both the elections respectively.

Schedule

Bihar Assembly elections were held in four phases in October 2005. A total of 2135 candidates were contested from the 243 constituencies in the Bihar Assembly elections of October 2005. Out of 2135 candidates in the October 2005 elections, male and female candidates were 1999 (93%) and 136 (7%) respectively.

Summary of results

Party		Party Flag	Seats contested	Seats Won	Seats change	Efficiency	Vote share
	Janata Dal		139	88	(+)33	63.30%	20.46
	Bharatiya Janata Party		102	55	(+) 18	53.92%	15.65
	Rashtriya Janata Dal		175	54	(-)21	30.81%	23.45
	Lok Janshakti Party		203	10	(-) 19	4.92%	11.10
	Indian National Congress		51	9	(-) 1	17.64%	6.09%
	Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation		85	5	(-) 2	5.88%	2.37%
	Bahujan Samaj Party		212	4	(-) 2		4.17%
	Communist Party of India		35	3	0		2.09%
	Samajwadi Party		158	2	(-) 2		2.52%
	Nationalist Congress Party		8	1	(-) 2		0.79%
	Communist Party of India		10	1	(-) 1		0.68%
	Akhil Jan Vikas Dal		12	1	(+) 1		0.21%
	Independent		766	10	(-) 7		8.77%
Total			243	-	0	-	100%

Detailed result

Bihar Assembly elections were held in four phases in October 2005. A total of 2135 candidates were contested from the 243 constituencies in the Bihar Assembly elections of October 2005. Out of 2135 candidates in the October 2005 elections, male and female candidates were 1999 (93%) and 136 (7%) respectively.

The Janata Dal (United) was the largest party in the seat after the Oct- Nov 2005 election, and ruled along with the Bharatiya Janata Party as part of the National Democratic Alliance. The incumbent chief minister was Nitish Kumar.^[2]