2010 Bihar Legislative Assembly election
election in India
The Bihar legislative assembly election, 2010 was held in six phases over a period of one month starting from 21 October until 20 November in all 243 constituencies of Bihar, India. The election is conducted to elect the government in Bihar for a five-year term. The votes were scheduled to be counted on 24 November.
The ruling National Democratic Alliance under Chief Minister Nitish Kumar won a landslide victory securing 206 of the 245 seats, with the JD(U) winning 115 and the BJP winning 91. The opposition alliance led by the Rashtriya Janata Dal was decimated as it won only 25 seats with the Rashtriya Janata Dal winning just 22, its worst performance in a Bihar legislative assembly election. The Indian National Congress registered its worst performance in the state, winning only 4 seats. No opposition party had enough seats (10% or more) to appoint a leader of opposition in the assembly.
Background
The Janata Dal (United) was the largest party in the Bihar legislative assembly after the 2005 election, and ruled along with the Bharatiya Janata Party as part of the National Democratic Alliance. The incumbent chief minister was Nitish Kumar.
This election also followed a surprise defeat by the once ruling Rashtriya Janata Dal in the 2009 Indian general election.
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