1995 Bihar Legislative Assembly election

1995 Bihar Legislative assembly election

25 and 28 March 1995

All 324 seats of the Bihar Legislative Assembly
163 seats needed for a majority
Turnout61.79%
  Majority party Minority party
 
Leader Lalu Prasad Yadav Yashwant Sinha
Party JD BJP
Leader since 1990 1995
Leader's seat Raghopur, Danapur Ranchi
Last election 122 39
Seats won 167 41
Seat change 45 2
Popular vote 9,669,589 4,480,363
Percentage 27.98% 12.96%
Swing 2.37% 1.35%

  Third party Fourth party
 
INC
CPI
Leader Jagannath Mishra Indrajit Gupta
Party INC CPI
Leader since 1989 1990
Leader's seat Did not contest Did not contest
Last election 71 23
Seats won 29 26
Seat change 42 3
Popular vote 5,622,952 1,645,765
Percentage 16.27% 4.76%
Swing 8.51% 1.83%

CM before election

Lalu Prasad
JD

Elected CM

Lalu Prasad
JD

The 11th Bihar Legislative Assembly elections were held in March 1995, to elect the 324 members of the Bihar Legislative Assembly. Janata Dal got a decisive victory in the state; political manoeuvre ensured Lalu Prasad Yadav's victory in the chief ministership. According to political scientist Sanjay Kumar, this election set a different trend in caste based politics of the state of Bihar, as in this election, there were two main political blocs in the state contesting for power. The either side of this power struggle was led by Backward Castes. It was the election in which the Forward Castes were pushed to margins in the politics of state.

In 1997, due to allegation related to Fodder Scam, a leadership revolt surfaced in Janata Dal, consequently Lalu broke away from Janata Dal and formed a new political party Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD). He handed over the reins of Bihar to his wife Rabri Devi to ensure his de facto rule, who won the trust vote with support from Rashtriya Janata Dal (136), the Congress (28), the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (S), the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (M), the Jharkhand People's Party (20) and independents (10).