The principal opposition parties in Bihar, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Indian National Congress, have experienced significant electoral defeats in the 2025 Assembly elections, with the RJD losing over 65% of its legislators and the Congress also seeing a substantial decline, leading to weakened political standing and internal dissent. Political observers attribute this decline to internal struggles within both parties rather than their effectiveness as an opposition, creating a political vacuum as key leaders reportedly have a strained relationship, hindering a united front against the ruling NDA, which secured a large mandate. While some within the Congress see an opportunity for revival, the state leadership has shown little initiative in organizational rebuilding, and the BJP-led government perceives the opposition as incapacitated, which has seemingly allowed the ruling party to adopt a lower profile regarding communal politics. The RJD faces a crisis of hope after over two decades out of power, while the Congress grapples with dissatisfaction over leadership and ticket distribution, further complicated by a lack of disciplinary action against cross-voting legislators who constitute a significant portion of the party's current Assembly strength.

The principal opposition parties in Bihar, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Indian National Congress, have experienced significant electoral defeats in the 2025 Assembly elections, with the RJD losing over 65% of its legislators and the Congress also seeing a substantial decline, leading to weakened political standing and internal dissent. Political observers attribute this decline to internal struggles within both parties rather than their effectiveness as an opposition, creating a political vacuum as key leaders reportedly have a strained relationship, hindering a united front against the ruling NDA, which secured a large mandate. While some within the Congress see an opportunity for revival, the state leadership has shown little initiative in organizational rebuilding, and the BJP-led government perceives the opposition as incapacitated, which has seemingly allowed the ruling party to adopt a lower profile regarding communal politics. The RJD faces a crisis of hope after over two decades out of power, while the Congress grapples with dissatisfaction over leadership and ticket distribution, further complicated by a lack of disciplinary action against cross-voting legislators who constitute a significant portion of the party's current Assembly strength.

The principal opposition parties in Bihar, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Indian National Congress, have experienced significant electoral defeats in the 2025 Assembly elections, with the RJD losing over 65% of its legislators and the Congress also seeing a substantial decline, leading to weakened political standing and internal dissent. Political observers attribute this decline to internal struggles within both parties rather than their effectiveness as an opposition, creating a political vacuum as key leaders reportedly have a strained relationship, hindering a united front against the ruling NDA, which secured a large mandate. While some within the Congress see an opportunity for revival, the state leadership has shown little initiative in organizational rebuilding, and the BJP-led government perceives the opposition as incapacitated, which has seemingly allowed the ruling party to adopt a lower profile regarding communal politics. The RJD faces a crisis of hope after over two decades out of power, while the Congress grapples with dissatisfaction over leadership and ticket distribution, further complicated by a lack of disciplinary action against cross-voting legislators who constitute a significant portion of the party's current Assembly strength.

The principal opposition party in Bihar, Rashtriya Janata Dal, went from 80 legislators in the assembly to just 25 in the 2025 elections, a decline of more than 65 per cent in its strength. The Indian National Congress too suffered a similar slide, shrinking from 19 MLAs to six. The reduced numbers have not only weakened their political standing but also deepened resentment within their ranks.

According to political observers, both camps are struggling more with their internal issues than with effectively occupying the opposition space. This has created a vacuum within Bihar’s opposition politics.

Key leaders at the helm in both the RJD and Congress reportedly do not hold a high opinion of each other, further suggesting a freeze in ties. That makes a collective push against the ruling alliance difficult, especially after the NDA’s massive mandate of 202 seats in the 243-member assembly.

“We have been part of the RJD-led coalition for the past few decades and we don’t have a good experience with them, politically as well as electorally. We have lost elections with them and lost our space too. There seemingly has been an informal decoupling,” a former Congress MLA said. However, neither side has officially indicated any break in the alliance.

With the RJD weakened, some Congress leaders believe this was the right moment for the grand old party to attempt a revival and tap into the emerging vacuum. But the Congress leadership in the state has shown little sign of organisational rebuilding or political aggression that could signal a recovery.

Even the BJP-led government in the state sees the Opposition as an incapacitated group, which, according to leaders, has also contributed to the BJP keeping a relatively low profile on its communal politics.

“It was expected that after the BJP came back, there could be communal posturing, but till now there hasn’t been anything like that,” a Congress leader said. “Earlier, they could not have done it because the BJP was under the leadership of Nitish Kumar and there were direct instructions against any communal activities.”

While the RJD’s more than two decades out of power as the principal opposition party has infused hopelessness among sections of its cadre, the Congress faced a different crisis after the 2025 Assembly elections. A large section of party workers expressed dissatisfaction with the state leadership over ticket distribution, alleging that preference was given to new entrants while old-timers were sidelined.

The Congress has also not taken any action against the three cross-voters in the Rajya Sabha elections, unlike in states such as Odisha and Haryana where cross-voting legislators were suspended. Leaders in the state believe disciplinary action is unlikely, as the three MLAs constitute nearly half of the party’s current Assembly strength.