From ‘jungle raj’ to zero repolls: A recap of Bihar’s electoral dynamics over the years  

Patna, Nov 14 The Bihar Assembly elections 2025 have marked many firsts -- first, the state clocked record polling of 67.13 per cent, the highest since Independence and second, it didn’t see repolling in any of the 243 constituencies.

The high-pitched electoral battle in the Hindi heartland hogged the headlines for the right reasons as this election saw clean and violence-free electoral discourse and also the polling process, unlike previous years when both canvassing and polling used to be marred by a spate of violence, murders, booth capturing and bogus voting incidents.

A recap of Bihar’s electoral dynamics over the years gives an insight into how the democratic exercise was held to ransom by political goons, election after election, preventing the electorate from exercising their franchise freely.

The late 1980s and 1990s era in Bihar’s electoral history saw goons and miscreants, with tacit support from political parties, running riot and preventing the Election Commission from holding free and fair elections.

The infamous ‘jungle raj’ era of the RJD regime saw maximum incidents of electoral malpractices and the re-polling during the Bihar elections.

In the 1985 Assembly elections, more than 63 deaths took place, thereby prompting the poll panel to order re-polling in 156 booths.

The 1990 Assembly elections, when Janata Dal, comprising many smaller parties, bagged power in the state, saw about 87 deaths.

In the 1995 elections, the Janata Dal under Lalu Yadav bettered its mandate than in previous elections but saw an upsurge in violence and poll rigging incidents.

The then Election Commissioner T.N. Seshan had to postpone the Bihar elections four times, due to unprecedented violence and electoral malpractices.

In the 2005 elections, which marked the advent of Nitish-led JD(U) in power, they also saw re-polling in 660 booths due to violence and malpractice.

After 2005, elections in the state have remained largely free of violence and poll rigging because of improved law and order conditions in the state.

However, the goal of immaculate and ideal elections was achieved in the state this year, as the elections saw no request for re-polling in any constituency and remained violence-free, leaving behind some isolated incidents in Mokama.

The Election Commission, in a statement after the two-phase elections, said that zero repolls were recommended, and this marked a first in the history of elections in the state.

No discrepancy or malpractice was found at any of the polling stations, thus ruling out the need for re-polling, it added.

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