'Tiger Abhi Zinda Hai': Nitish Kumar Posters Emerge As NDA Dominates Bihar Election 2025

A dramatic 'Tiger Abhi Zinda Hai' poster featuring Nitish Kumar went viral as NDA opened massive leads. The imagery energised JD(U) cadres, symbolising Kumar's political resilience while early trends showed BJP-led alliance heading for a victory.

A Poster That Set the Tone for Bihar’s Poll Morning

A striking poster of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar standing beside a crouching tiger, emblazoned with the bold slogan 'Tiger Abhi Zinda Hai', emerged outside his official residence just as counting began. Cinematic and deliberately authoritative, the visual instantly caught the attention of journalists, supporters and passers-by. It offered a symbolic answer to long-running questions about Kumar’s political longevity, turning a single image into a statement of survival and dominance.

Vehicles slowed down to take photographs, and locals stepped out simply to witness what rapidly became a trending motif on social media. For JD(U) workers, the poster served as a rallying emblem, a declaration that their veteran leader remained firmly in the arena, unbothered by speculation or shifting political narratives. Even before the trends solidified, the poster shaped the day’s mood, offering a powerful, emotional counterpoint to the data that would soon follow.

Early Trends Show NDA Opening a Strong Lead

As the Election Commission released the first meaningful trends, the NDA swiftly surged ahead, holding leads in more than 111 constituencies, while the INDIA bloc lagged significantly behind with just 33. Within the NDA, the BJP and JD(U) ran neck-and-neck in early numbers, with the BJP leading in 48 seats and the JD(U) in 44. Smaller allies such as the LJP(RV) and HAM also registered encouraging openings. The early scoreboard suggested that the NDA narrative had resonated across rural and urban pockets alike, reflecting a consolidation of support that had eluded the coalition during the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

For BJP-JD(U) supporters celebrating around the 'tiger' poster, these early numbers felt like validation, an indication that their political messaging, alliance arithmetic, and organisational strength had clicked at the right moment. The INDIA bloc, meanwhile, struggled to match momentum despite its larger seat share.

A Landslide in the Making: BJP and JD(U) Surge Ahead

By noon, trends indicated that the NDA was heading toward a landslide victory, with leads in over 180 of the state’s 243 seats. The BJP was on course to emerge as the single-largest party, leading in more than 80 of the 101 seats it contested, an exceptional strike rate. The JD(U), too, appeared set for a remarkable comeback, nearly doubling its 2020 tally. The LJP(RV), contesting just 29 seats, surprised observers by leading in over 20, showing that Chirag Paswan's personalised appeal and alignment with Prime Minister Modi had delivered results.

The opposition, particularly the RJD, faced a sharp decline in performance despite contesting more than 140 seats. Congress, with leads in fewer than 10 seats, confirmed its diminishing impact in the state's electoral landscape. Overall, the trends pointed toward a consolidation of NDA's dominance, both organisationally and electorally.

Nitish Kumar's Position Strengthens Inside the NDA Fold

The strong numbers for both BJP and JD(U) reinforced the strategic decision to project Nitish Kumar as the alliance's chief ministerial face. Despite murmurs within sections of the BJP about elevating its own leader to the top post, Prime Minister Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah had repeatedly emphasised that the NDA in Bihar was 'led by Nitish Kumar'. With the JD(U) poised to bounce back toward its earlier strength, this messaging seemed to have paid off, particularly among rural and women voters who continue to form Kumar’s core support base.

The 'tiger' poster amplified this narrative at a crucial moment, symbolising continuity and stability at a time when Bihar’s political climate remains intensely competitive. Within the NDA, the performance of each ally, strong BJP numbers, a revived JD(U), and a rising LJP(RV), suggested a more balanced and cohesive coalition heading forward.

Opposition Struggles: RJD Slips, Congress Falters

On the other side, the INDIA bloc had a challenging morning. The RJD, despite contesting aggressively, led in fewer than 40 seats, well below expectations and a sharp fall from its earlier claim of being the state’s strongest individual party. Tejashwi Yadav trailed by a slender margin in Raghopur, adding symbolic weight to the opposition’s troubles. His brother Tej Pratap Yadav, contesting in Mahua, trailed far behind, placed a distant fourth. The Congress, contesting 61 seats and entering into multiple friendly fights with allies, performed poorly, leading in fewer than 10 seats.

The broader INDIA bloc struggled to translate its narrative into ground-level traction. As the NDA strengthened its march toward victory, the contrast became stark: confidence and symbolism on one side, disarray and diminishing relevance on the other. By midday, it was clear that Bihar’s political winds were blowing decisively in the NDA’s favour.

As counting advanced and Patna absorbed the shifting mood of the day, the capital’s visual landscape became an unofficial referendum on Nitish Kumar’s political centrality. What stood out was not merely the volume of posters but the orchestration behind them — a coordinated assertion that unfolded almost as precisely as the election trends themselves. Each poster attempted to freeze a political moment: a long-serving chief minister reclaiming narrative dominance amid an NDA wave where the BJP was numerically stronger but strategically deferential. 

The JD(U)’s messaging machine appeared intent on reminding both allies and adversaries that Nitish Kumar’s leadership was not a negotiable variable, but the axis around which the alliance’s Bihar strategy revolved. Even BJP leaders, aware of the sensitivities within the coalition, responded with calibrated admiration, reinforcing rather than challenging the projection. As the NDA’s seat leads crossed the halfway mark with ease, the posters acquired an air of inevitability, as though Patna’s streets were pre-writing the day’s political conclusion. For party workers, they became celebratory symbols; for analysts, they signalled a deliberate attempt to script the post-result power dynamics. Across the city, the visuals declared without subtlety that the political story of the day, and perhaps the term ahead, remained centred on Nitish Kumar.

(With inputs from agencies)