India, Oct. 12 -- The JDU and BJP are finally equal partners in Bihar for the 2025 state assembly election, thanks largely to their strike rates going in opposite directions - the BJP's rising consistently, and the JDU's dropping sharply - over the past four elections.

This time, they have decided to contest 101 seats each, of the 243 assembly segments in Bihar, with the remaining going to other partners. That's a climbdown for both, JDU from 115 and BJP from 110. Chirag Paswan's LJP(RV) with 29 seats is the factor that also impacted the math.

But equal numbers for the JDU and BJP mean more than mere math.

Nitish Kumar has been CM for two decades, but his strength has not translated for the JDU that he leads.

In the 2020 Bihar assembl...