India, Nov. 14 -- At the time of writing this column, 20% of the votes in the Bihar assembly elections have been counted. The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) looks set for a landslide victory in the state, with leads in 186 out of the 243 assembly constituencies (ACs). What is even more remarkable is that the NDA's vote share of 47.6% is the highest ever for a winning alliance in the history of the state. What really happened in the 2025 elections? The question is best answered by twelve Ds.

Deja vu wins over Dogma

The alliance of Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal (United) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has never lost an election they have contested together - they did part ways in the 2014 Lok Sabha and 2015 assembly polls - since they wo...