Landslide and Legacy: How NDA’s Bihar Victory Deepened RJD’s Family Rift

Paromita Das

New Delhi, 18th  November: It was not only a political verdict that the 2025 Bihar Assembly elections delivered but a raw emotional fallout within one of the state’s most influential political families: the Yadav clan. While the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance registered a convincing victory, the opposition’s setbacks triggered a profound crisis within the Rashtriya Janata Dal, reverberating far beyond the electoral numbers.

Bihar Earthquake: NDA Clinches Thumping Victory

The coalition of BJP and Janata Dal (United) crossed the 200-seat mark in the 243-member Assembly, thereby sealing a commanding mandate for the NDA. That performance cemented Nitish Kumar’s standing as Bihar’s longest-serving Chief Minister and showcased the continuing popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership. Meanwhile, RJD—the party which once emerged as the single-largest party with 75 seats—is now reduced to just 25, a devastating decline underlining not just electoral defeat but also strategic and organisational fissures within the party.

A Family Fracture Exposed

The RJD’s electoral calamity spilled onto a very public stage: the Yadav family itself appeared to be unravelling. Rohini Acharya, daughter of the RJD’s patriarch Lalu Yadav, left political observers agog by breaking ties with her family and announcing her exit from politics. Continuing in this vein, reports said Lalu’s other daughters-Rajlakshmi, Ragini, Hema, and Chanda-also kept their distance and relocated to Delhi amid an unfolding rift.

In the post, Rohini had accused two men close to Tejashwi Yadav-Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Yadav and political advisor Rameez Ahmad-of causing the rift that led to her hostile treatment, forcing her to flee her father’s house. Emotional revelations of humiliation and abuse brought the private conflicts within the family under the blinding public gaze. If Rohini’s decision to come out in the open surprised many, not many know that she had been feeling stifled and sidelined by the internal politics within the party.

कल एक बेटी, एक बहन , एक शादीशुदा महिला , एक माँ को जलील किया गया , गंदी गालियाँ दी गयीं , मारने के लिए चप्पल उठाया गया , मैंने अपने आत्मसम्मान से समझौता नहीं किया, सच का समर्पण नहीं किया , सिर्फ और सिर्फ इस वजह से मुझे बेइज्जती झेलनी पडी ..
कल एक बेटी मजबूरी में अपने रोते हुए…

— Rohini Acharya (@RohiniAcharya2) November 16, 2025

Sibling Strife and Party Turmoil

The tensions had roots in several months before the election. Tej Pratap Yadav, brother of Rohini, was kicked out of the RJD over controversies and later floated his own political outfit. While Rohini campaigned for Tejashwi in elections, her opposition to the expulsion of her brother had hinted at fissures between the siblings and the leadership under Tejashwi. This leads to questions as to what extent intra-family and factional strife had a bearing on the electoral fortunes of the RJD.

Tej Pratap’s vocal support for Rohini after the elections, framing the conflict as a fight for family honor and dignity of Bihari women, amplified the narrative of a family split along political lines. He even went ahead and dared Lalu Yadav to take a stand against traitorous elements within the party, further exposing the power struggles that were only hotting up behind the scenes.

Political Drama Overshadowing Electoral Reality

With all the media attention focused on the melodrama of public quarrels, allegations, and shifting loyalties within the Yadav family, it is easy to miss the wider political context. The RJD’s collapse in Bihar had a strong basis in voter dissatisfaction with its performance, leadership, and inability to grow beyond its traditional base. The internal struggle of the family appears less an isolated drama and more a reflection of organizational and strategic crises in a party under increasing electoral pressure.

The emotional fallout in the Yadav household, though serious, may also be a diversionary tale to take away the public gaze from electoral wounds inflicted on the RJD. It underlines the fragility of dynastic politics when the political landscape and the expectations of voters start changing.

A Wake-Up Call for Dynastic Politics

The 2025 Bihar elections brought to light the ‘Achilles heel’ of political dynasties that rest overly on family cohesion and legacy. A Yadav family feud demonstrates how personal conflicts can meet fatally with political ambitions, thus dividing public perception and party unity.

The takeaway for the RJD and its ilk is clear: electoral success requires more than charismatic lineage. It demands responsive leadership, organizational discipline, and the ability of a party to adapt to evolving voter priorities beyond familial loyalty.

Bihar’s Election—More Than Just Numbers

This victory of the NDA in Bihar signifies the continuity of governance that has been identified and aligned with the development-welfare narrative, while the internal chaos within RJD outlines the high personal and political costs of defeat in Bharatiya democracy.

As the Yadav family saga unfolds, it reflects a broader question-can dynastic political families evolve or will their internal struggles continue to inhibit their relevance? Navigating through these turbulent waters and presenting a united, visionary front to a discerning electorate is what will, in reality, decide the future of Bihar’s opposition.

This election is a defining moment not just for Bihar’s political map but for the nature of political leadership in the country.