RJD, BJP lost votes; JD-U, LJP made inroads

The biggest erosion, however, was faced by RJD. In 2004, it had won 115 seats with 32.97 pc vote. This time, it not only lost 41 seats, its vote share plunged to 21.48 pc — a negative swing of 11.49 pc.

The Congress which won 10 seats this time compared to 12 in 2000 received 4.69 pc votes compared to 8.56 pc in 2000, a negative swing of 3.87 pc. That fall, however, is cushioned as the Congress contested far more seats in 2000 than in 2005.

BJP, on the other hand, won more seats though its vote share fell. The party won 38 seats this time, three more than in 2000, but its vote share declined from 11.75 to 9.59 pc.

LJP got as much as 10.48 pc of the vote, almost raking up RJD’s decline in the share. But the only party to make real gains on ground was JD(U). It won 37 more seats than in 2000, raising its share from 7.68 pc to 12.48 pc.

Among the newer entrants, Samajwadi Party bagged four seats and got 2.64 pc of the vote — a gain of 1.25 pc. Similarly, BSP — which won only two seats compared to its earlier tally of five — nevertheless made a net gain of 2.13 pc in its voteshare.

The decline faced by BJP confirms that the party has failed to break any ground in Bihar and has gained largely on account of its alliance with the JD(U) and the anti-incumbency vote.

In fact, Paswan and Nitish together (without any aid from Congress and BJP respectively) have got more than Laloo in terms of vote share. The LJP’s 10.48 pc and JD(U)’s 12.48% add up to 22.96 pc, well over the RJD’s 21.48 pc.