RJD got the votes, how did BJP and Nitish get the seats? Bihar results decoded

THe Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), which led the Mahagathbandhan confederation in collaborationism with the u.s. Congress in Bihar, ended with a poor present in the say assembly elections, winning just 25 of the 143 seats it contested in under the seat-sharing plan.In a silver lining of sorts despite an embarrassing performance in terms of the number of seats won, the RJD registered the highest vote share by any one party in these elections, counting of votes for which took place on Friday, November 14. Follow Bihar election results live updatesThe RJD secured 23 per cent but registered a slight dip from its 23.11 per cent share in the previous elections. The party had fielded 144 candidates in the last elections. The BJP's vote share rose to 20.07 per cent from 19.46 per cent in 2020, even as it contested 101 seats in these elections compared to 110 constituencies in the last polls, according to Election Commission of India (ECI) data.What is vote share? Why did RJD lose despite highest vote share?Vote share is the percentage of total votes a political party or candidate receives in an election, relative to the total number of votes cast. Vote share tells a lot about the popularity or support a party has among the electorate.RJD securing the highest vote share implies that in some constituencies, it might be second (or third), gathering many votes but not enough to cross the finish line. That adds to their total vote share, but not to their seat count.Read more on how Bihar went from a 2020 cliff-hanger to a 2025 landslide hereIt also suggests that even if they get a lot of votes overall, those votes may have been wasted in constituencies where they did not win, or won by narrow margins or lost by narrow margin.Another reason for a higher vote share is the higher number of seats RJD contested in than National Democratic Alliance's (NDA) Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) or the Janata Dal (United) - both of which fought on 101 seats each. This means RJD had 42 more constituencies to accumulate votes, as even losing candidates of the party add to the vote share.The number of votes RJD bag was 1,15,46,055, while 1,00,81,143 people voted for the BJP. RJD's allies in the Mahagathbandhan also pulled off a flop show, with the Congress winning just six of the 61 seats it contested in.The CPI(ML)L won two seats, the CPI(M) one and the CPI none, restricting Mahagathbandhan's total number of seats to 35.The NDA secured 202 seats, with BJP's contribution of 89 being the biggest, followed by the JDU at 85, Union minister Chirag Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) at 19, while Union minister Jitan Ram Manjhi's Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) won five, and Rajya Sabha MP Upendra Kushwaha's Rashtriya Lok Morcha four.