FOLLOW US: @TheStatesmanLtd @thestatesmanltd thestatesman1875 www.thestatesman.com People’s Parliament, Always in Session India’s National Newspaper since 1818 | Pages 16 | ` 5.00 | KOLKATA LC | NEW DELHI | SILIGURI | BHUBANESWAR | Saturday, 15 November 2025 SPORTS SATURDAY INTERVIEW BBC apologises to Trump but refuses to pay compensation BUSINESS Page 16 WORLD Government notifies India’s first digital privacy law Page 12 Bumrah wrecks South Africa as India take command on Day 1 of Kolkata Test Page 11 ‘Cloud seeding is just cosmetic’ Page 9 Nitish-Modi wave sweeps Bihar, NDA gets two-thirds majority in historic win IMRAN MOJIB Patna, 14 November C ashing in on the charisma of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the women- centric welfare schemes launched by his government, Janata Dal (United) leader Nitish Kumar on Friday led the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) to a landslide victory in Bihar. The BJP emerged as the largest party, while the JD(U) made significant gains. Both parties contested 101 seats each. The BJP won 89, the JD(U) 85, while the LJP (RV) secured 19 seats. The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) of Tejashwi Yadav bit the dust with just 26 seats, while its alliance partner in the 'Mahagathbandhan,' Congress, bagged just six seats. The election outcome puts a big question mark on the leadership of Yadav, with his party's strength going down considerably. Yadav himself had a scare early on, trailing initially in Raghopur constituency before going on to win by over 14,000 votes. As soon as the trends became clear, JD(U) workers began celebrating at the party office in Patna. Soon, posters reading “Bihar ka matlab Nitish Kumar” (Bihar m e a n s Nitish PM: Victory in Bihar has paved way for BJP’s triumph in Bengal NIKHIL VYAS New Delhi, 14 November BJP supporters celebrate NDA's landslide victory in the Bihar Assembly election 2025 in Patna on Friday. AGENCIES 243 Total Seats 202 NDA 35 MGB 6 OTH Alliance 2025 2020 Change NDA MGB OTH 202 35 6 122 114 7 +80 -79 -1 Kumar) and “Hamaare Bihar ka ek hi star, har baar Nitish Kumar” (Bihar has only one star, every time Nitish Kumar) appeared across the city ~ a message intended for its NDA partners: “Nitish Kumar was, is, and will remain the CM of Bihar.” However, with the BJP winning more seats than the JD(U), along with strong showings from the LJP (Ram Vilas), HAM, and RLM, the major question in Bihar’s political circles is ~ will Nitish return as CM, or will someone else get the opportunity? Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, meanwhile, termed the Bihar results as "truly surprising" and said “we could not achieve victory in an election that was not fair from the very beginning”. • More reports inside Virtually launching the BJP-led NDA's campaign for the Assembly elections in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam and Puducherry due early next year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said the NDA's massive win in the Bihar Assembly elections has opened the door for the alliance to end the 'Jungle Raj' in Bengal. “The victory in Bihar has paved the way for the BJP's triumph in Bengal. I want to assure the people of West Bengal that, with your support, the BJP will put an end to the Jungle Raj in the state as well," PM Modi said, addressing party workers at the BJP headquarters here. Launching a scathing attack at the Congress, PM Modi said: "In reality, it (Congress) has transformed into what can be described as MMC: the Muslim League Maoist Congress." He said the foundation of the Congress' political approach is rooted in ''negativity''. "It (Congress) focusses on raising obje ctionable slogans, disrupting parliamentary proceedings, attacking key institutions, casting doubt on EVMs, maligning the Election Commission, and promoting division along lines of caste and religion,'' PM Modi said, adding that he apprehended another major split in the grand old party. Thanking the people of Bihar for giving a massive mandate to the NDA, PM Modi said the state has delivered its strongest mandate for the alliance after 2010 in these elections.