2000 Bihar Legislative Assembly election

2000 Bihar Legislative Assembly election

All 324 seats of the Bihar Legislative Assembly 163 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	62.57%
Majority party Minority party Third party   Leader Rabri Devi Sushil Modi Nitish Kumar Party RJD BJP Samata Party Alliance RJD-CPI(M) NDA NDA Leader since 1997 1997 1994 Leader's seat Danapur Patna Central Did not contest Seats before New 41 7 Seats won 124 67 34 Seat change New 16 27 Popular vote 10,500,361 5,424,687 3,205,746 Percentage 28.34% 14.64% 8.65% Swing New 1.68% 1.59%   Fourth party   Leader Shakeel Ahmad Party INC Leader since 2000 Leader's seat Bisfi Seats before 29 Seats won 23 Seat change 6 Popular vote 4,096,467 Percentage 11.06% Swing 5.21%
CM before election Rabri Devi RJD Elected CM Nitish Kumar Samata Party

Legislative Assembly elections were held in February 2000, to elect the 324 members of the Bihar Legislative Assembly. The Rashtriya Janata Dal won the most seats, but a short-lived government was formed by an alliance that included the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Samata Party. The voter turnout in 2000 assembly polls was 62.6%.

Background

Between 1990 and 2000, Bihar's per capita income, according to a World Bank estimate, fell from ₹ 1,373 to ₹ 1,289. Power consumption in Bihar went down from 84 KWH to 60 KWH and it registered the lowest number of Internet users among Indian states. As per a Business Today -Gallup survey in December 1999, Bihar was the worst state for investment.

In 1999 Lok Sabha elections Rashtriya Janata Dal received a setback at the hand of BJP+JD(U) combine. The new coalition emerged leading in 199 out of 324 assembly constituencies and it was widely believed that in the forthcoming election to Bihar state assembly elections, the Lalu-Rabri rule will come to an end. The RJD had fought the election in an alliance with the Congress but the coalition didn't work making state leadership of Congress believe that the maligned image of Lalu Prasad after his name was drawn in the Fodder Scam had eroded his support base. Consequently, Congress decided to fight the 2000 assembly elections alone.

The RJD had to be satisfied with the communist parties as coalition partners but the seat-sharing conundrum in the camp of National Democratic Alliance made Kumar pull his Samta Party out of the Sharad Yadav and Ram Vilas Paswan faction of the Janata Dal. Differences also arose between the BJP and Kumar as the latter wanted to be projected as the Chief Minister of Bihar but the former was not in favour. Even Paswan also wanted to be a CM face. The Muslims and OBCs were too divided in their opinion. A section of Muslims, which included the poor communities like Pasmanda were of the view that Lalu only strengthened upper Muslims like Shaikh, Sayyid and Pathans and they were in search of new options.

Yadav also alienated other dominant backward castes like Koeri and Kurmi since his projection as the saviour of Muslims. It is argued by Sanjay Kumar that the belief that, "the dominant OBCs like the twin caste of Koeri-Kurmi will ask for share in power if he (Yadav) seeks their support while the Muslims will remain satisfied with the protection during communal riots only" made Yadav neglect them. Moreover, the divisions in both the camps made the political atmosphere in the state a charged one in which many parties were fighting against each other with no visible frontiers. JD(U) and BJP were fighting against each other on some of the seats and so was the Samta Party.

Results

Party		Votes	%	Seats
	Rashtriya Janata Dal	10,500,361	28.34	124
	Bharatiya Janata Party	5,424,687	14.64	67
	Samata Party	3,205,746	8.65	34
	Indian National Congress	4,096,467	11.06	23
	Janata Dal (United)	2,396,677	6.47	21
	Jharkhand Mukti Morcha	1,306,152	3.53	12
	Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation	925,253	2.50	6
	Bahujan Samaj Party	701,936	1.89	5
	Communist Party of India	1,334,386	3.60	5
	Communist Party of India (Marxist)	338,198	0.91	2
	United Goans Democratic Party	96,297	0.26	2
	Kosal Party	132,835	0.36	2
	Marxist Co-ordination Committee	104,450	0.28	1
	Others	2,274,134	6.14	0
	Independent (politician)	4,211,341	11.37	20
Total		37,048,920	100.00	324
Valid votes		37,048,920	98.60
Invalid/blank votes		527,141	1.40
Total votes		37,576,061	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		60,091,029	62.53
Source: ECI

Elected members

Constituency		Winner				Runner Up				Margin
#	Name	Candidate	Party		Votes	Candidate	Party		Votes
1	Dhanaha	Rajesh Singh		BSP	15034	Arun Kumar Tiwari		Ind	11287	3747
2	Bagaha (SC)	Purnmasi Ram		RJD	58668	Kailash Baitha		Ind	39191	19477
3	Ramnagar	Chandra Mohan Rai		BJP	44454	Mohammad Salauddin		NCP	25332	19122
4	Shikarpur (SC)	Bhagirathi Devi		BJP	35377	Subodh Kumar		NCP	22069	13308
5	Sikta	Dilip Varma		BJP	50592	Motiur Rahman		CPIMLL	24147	26445
6	Lauriya	Vishwa Mohan Sharma		INC	41016	Ran Vijay Shahi		RJD	25520	15496
7	Chanpatia	Krishna Kumar Mishra		BJP	22617	Sharfuddin Sheikh		SJP	21058	1559
8	Bettiah	Renu Devi		BJP	44897	Shamim Akhtar		Ind	34056	10841
9	Nautan	Baidyanath Prasad Mahto		SAP	39584	Amar Yadav		Ind	15864	23720
10	Raxaul	Ajay Kumar Singh		BJP	41983	Sagir Ahmad		INC	29032	12951
11	Sugauli	Vijay Prasad Gupta		KP	39499	Ramashray Singh		CPM	38993	506
12	Motihari	Rama Devi		RJD	78657	Pramod Kumar		BJP	44090	34567
13	Adapur	Virendra Prasad Kushwaha		IND	44227	Shyam Bihari Prasad		RJD	43960	267
14	Dhaka	Manoj Kumar Singh		RJD	59948	Avaneesh Kumar Singh		BJP	53851	6097
15	Ghorasahan	Laxmi Narayan Yadav		JDU	39668	Lal Babu Prasad		RJD	18637	21031
16	Madhuban	Sitaram Singh		RJD	64285	Rajesh Kumar Roshan		SAP	43476	20809
17	Pipra (SC)	Surendra Kumar Chandra		RJD	34469	Krishnanandan Paswan		Ind	23702	10767
18	Kesaria	Obaidullah		SAP	46743	Yamuna Yadav		KP	17424	29319
19	Harsidhi	Maheshwar Singh		SAP	60363	Awadhesh Kushwaha		RJD	47645	12718
20	Govindganj	Rajan Tiwari		IND	31702	Bhupendra Nath Dubey		SAP	28439	3263
21	Kateya	Kiran Devi		RJD	50704	Mandev Tiwari		BJP	33548	17156
22	Bhore (SC)	Acharya Vishwanath Baitha		BJP	59230	Alagu Ram		RJD	26857	32373
23	Mirganj	Prabhu Dayal Singh		SAP	49084	Abdul Samad		Ind	24596	24488
24	Gopalganj	Sadhu Yadav		RJD	30248	Subhash Singh		BPP	19372	10876
25	Barauli	Rampravesh Rai		BJP	52085	Md. Nematullah		RJD	42360	9725
26	Baikunthpur	Manjeet Kumar Singh		SAP	60891	Lal Babu Yadav		RJD	40963	19928
27	Basantpur	Satyadeo Prasad Singh		BJP	67052	Manik Chand Rai		RJD	65992	1060
28	Goriakothi	Indra Deo Prasad		RJD	42324	Ajit Kumar Singh		Ind	22198	20126
29	Siwan	Awadh Bihari Choudhary		RJD	107933	Wasi Ahmad		BJP	18696	89237
30	Mairwa (SC)	Satyadeo Ram		CPIMLL	32996	Gorakh Ram		INC	26487	6509
31	Darauli	Sheo Shanker Yadav		RJD	46047	Amar Nath Yadav		CPIMLL	33990	12057
32	Ziradei	Azazul Haque		RJD	75920	Shyam Bahadur Singh		SAP	31000	44920
33	Maharajganj	Umashanker Singh		SAP	58671	Damodar Singh		Ind	22715	35956
34	Raghunathpur	Vijay Shanker Dubey		INC	34503	Vikram Kunwar		RJD	32064	2439
35	Manjhi	Ravindra Nath Mishra		IND	33725	Gautam Singh		SAP	27583	6142
36	Baniapur	Manoranjan Singh		IND	37926	Ram Bahadur Rai		RJD	35837	2089
37	Masrakh	Tarkeshwar Singh		RJD	47301	Kedar Nath Singh		SAP	36842	10459
38	Taraiya	Ram Das Rai		RJD	40680	Janak Singh		BJP	40415	265
39	Marhaura	Yaduvanshi Rai		RJD	68463	Surendra Sharma		SAP	45573	22890
40	Jalalpur	Janardan Singh Sigriwal		BJP	27408	Ramjan Ali		SJP	25800	1608
41	Chapra	Udit Rai		RJD	76749	Rambabu Ray		BJP	54030	22719
42	Garkha (SC)	Muneshwar Choudhary		RJD	52530	Amrit Chaudhary		SAP	45114	7416
43	Parsa	Chandrika Rai		RJD	74581	Ram Nath Bidhyarthi		INC	29071	45510
44	Sonpur	Vinay Kumar Singh		BJP	72502	Ramanuj Prasad Yadav		RJD	70212	2290
45	Hajipur	Nityanand Rai		BJP	95598	Rajendra Rai		RJD	42762	52836
46	Raghopur	Lalu Prasad Yadav		RJD	70134	Vishnudev Rai		JDU	41006	29128
47	Mahnar	Rama Kishore Singh		JDU	84893	Munshilal Rai		RJD	44344	40549
48	Jandaha	Upendra Kushwaha		SAP	46042	Achyutanand Singh		Ind	40681	5361
49	Patepur (SC)	Prema Chaudhary		RJD	60572	Mahendra Baitha		JDU	48457	12115
50	Mahua (SC)	Dasai Chowdhary		RJD	60478	Munshi Lal Paswan		JDU	51408	9070
51	Lalganj	Vijay Shukla		IND	82406	Rajkumar Sah		RJD	29701	52705
52	Vaishali	Veena Shahi		INC	52708	Brishin Patel		RJD	40680	12028
53	Paroo	Mithilesh Prasad Yadav		RJD	55823	Anunay Kumar Singh		INC	30523	25300
54	Sahebganj	Ram Vichar Ray		RJD	76235	Nagendra Prasad Singh		BPP	35872	40363
55	Baruraj	Shashi Kumar Rai		JDU	48850	Brij Kishore Singh		RJD	33817	15033
56	Kanti	Gulam Jilani Warsi		RJD	35023	Ajit Singh		AJBP	23979	11044
57	Kurhani	Basawan Prasad Bhagat		RJD	48343	Brijesh Kumar		BPP	32795	15548
58	Sakra (SC)	Sital Ram		RJD	49391	Bilat Paswan		JDU	42120	7271
59	Muzaffarpur	Bijendra Chaudhary		RJD	86873	Suresh Kumar Sharma		BJP	60040	26833
60	Bochahan (SC)	Ramai Ram		RJD	77031	Musafir Paswan		JDU	22863	54168
61	Gaighat	Virendra Kumar Singh		JDU	47020	Devendra Prasad Yadav		RJD	42024	4996
62	Aurai	Ganesh Prasad Yadav		JDU	47268	Arjun Roy		RJD	34381	12887
63	Minapur	Dinesh Prasad Kushwaha		IND	32586	Hind Keshari Yadav		RJD	29634	2952
64	Runnisaidpur	Bhola Rai		RJD
65	Belsand	Ram Swarth Rai		RJD
66	Sheohar	Satya Narayan Prasad		RJD
67	Sitamarhi	Shahid Ali Khan		RJD
68	Bathnaha	Suryadeo Rai		RJD
69	Majorganj (SC)	Gauri Shankar Nagdansh		BJP
70	Sonbarsa	Ramchandra Purve		RJD
71	Sursand	Jainandan Prasad Yadav		JDU
72	Pupri	Sita Ram Yadav		RJD
73	Benipatti	Ramashish Yadav		JDU
74	Bisfi	Shakil Ahmad		INC
75	Harlakhi	Sitaram Yadav		RJD
76	Khajauli (SC)	Ram Lakhan Ram 'Raman'		RJD
77	Babubarhi	Deo Narayan Yadav		RJD
78	Madhubani	Ramdev Mahato		BJP
79	Pandaul	Naiyar Azam		RJD
80	Jhanjharpur	Jagdish Narayan Chaudhary		RJD
81	Phulparas	Ram Kumar Yadav		JDU
82	Laukaha	Hari Prasad Sah		SP
83	Madhepur	Jagat Narayan Singh		RJD
84	Manigachhi	Lalit Kumar Yadav		RJD
85	Bahera	Abdul Bari Siddiqui		RJD
86	Ghanshyampur	Mahavir Prasad		RJD
87	Baheri	Ramanand Singh		JDU
88	Darbhanga Rural (SC)	Pitambar Paswan		RJD
89	Darbhanga	Sultan Ahmad		RJD
90	Keoti	Ghulam Sarwar		RJD
91	Jale	Vijay Kumar Mishra		BJP
92	Hayaghat	Umadhar Prasad Singh		IND
93	Kalyanpur	Ashwamedh Devi		SP
94	Warisnagar (SC)	Ram Sewak Hazari		JDU
95	Samastipur	Ram Nath Thakur		JDU
96	Sarairanjan	Ramashraya Sahni		RJD
97	Mohiuddinnagar	Ram Chandra Rai		RJD
98	Dalsinghsarai	Ram Padarnath Mahto		RJD
99	Bibhutipur	Ramdeo Verma		CPIM
100	Rosera (SC)	Ashok Kumar		SP
101	Singhia	Dr. Ashok Kumar		INC
102	Hasanpur	Gajendra Himansu		JDU
103	Ballia	Shrinarayan Yadav		RJD
104	Matihani	Rajendra Rajan		CPI
105	Begusarai	Bhola Prasad Singh		BJP
106	Barauni	Rajendra Pd. Singh		CPI
107	Bachhwara	Uttam Kumar Yadav		RJD
108	Cheria-Bariarpur	Ashok Kumar		RJD
109	Bakhri (SC)	Ramanand Ram		RJD
110	Raghopur	Uday Prasad Goet		RJD
111	Kishunpur	Yaduwansh Kumar Yadav		RJD
112	Supaul	Bijendra Pd. Yadav		JDU
113	Triveniganj	Anup Lal Yadav		RJD
114	Chhatapur (SC)	Gita Devi		RJD
115	Kumarkhand (SC)	Bhupendra Rishideo		RJD
116	Singheshwar	Vijay Kumar Singh		RJD
117	Saharsa	Shankar Prasad Tekriwal		RJD
118	Mahishi	Abdul Ghafoor		RJD
119	Simri-Bakhtiarpur	Mehboob Ali Kaisar		INC
120	Madhepura	Rajendra Prasad Yadav		RJD
121	Sonbarsha	Ashok Kumar Singh		RJD
122	Kishanganj	Prof. Ravindra Charan Yadav		RJD
123	Alamnagar	Narendra Nr. Yadav		JDU
124	Rupauli	Bima Bharti		IND
125	Dhamdaha	Leshi Singh		SP
126	Banmankhi (SC)	Deo Narayan Rajak		BJP
127	Raniganj (SC)	Yamuna Prasad Ram		RJD
128	Narpatganj	Janardan Yadav		BJP
129	Forbesganj	Zakir Hussain Khan		BSP
130	Araria	Bijay Kumar Mandal		IND
131	Sikti	Anandi Prasad Yadav		BJP
132	Jokihat	Sarfraz		RJD
133	Bahadurganj	Zahidur Rahman		INC
134	Thakurganj	Mohammad Jawed		INC
135	Kishanganj	Taslimuddin		RJD
136	Amour	Abdul Jalil Mastan		INC
137	Baisi	Abdus Subhan		RJD
138	Kasba	Pradip Kumar Das		BJP
139	Purnia	Raj Kishore Kesri		BJP
140	Korha (SC)	Mahesh Paswan		BJP
141	Barari	Mansoor Alam		RJD
142	Katihar	Ram Prakash Mahto		RJD
143	Kadwa	Himraj Singh		IND
144	Barsoi	Mahboob Alam		CPIMLL
145	Pranpur	Binod Singh Kushwaha		BJP
146	Manihari	Vishwanath Singh		JDU
147	Rajmahal	Arun Mandal		BJP
148	Borio (ST)	Lobin Hembrom		JMM
149	Barhait (ST)	Hemlal Murmu		JMM
150	Litipara (ST)	Sushila Hansda		JMM
151	Pakur	Alamgir Alam		INC
152	Maheshpur (ST)	Devidhan Besra		BJP
153	Sikaripara (ST)	Nalin Soren		JMM
154	Nala	Bisheswar Khan		CPI
155	Jamtara	Furkan Ansari		INC
156	Sarath	Shashank Shekhar Bhokta		JMM
157	Madhupur	Haji Hussain Ansari		JMM
158	Deoghar (SC)	Suresh Paswan		RJD
159	Jarmundi	Devendra Kunwar		BJP
160	Dumka (ST)	Stephen Marandi		JMM
161	Jama (ST)	Durga Soren		JMM
162	Poreyahat	Pradeep Yadav		BJP
163	Godda	Sanjay Prasad Yadav		RJD
164	Mahagama	Ashok Kumar		BJP
165	Pirpainti	Shobhakant Mandal		RJD
166	Colgong	Sadanand Singh		INC
167	Nathnagar	Sudha Shrivastava		SP
168	Bhagalpur	Ashwini Kumar Chaubey		BJP
169	Gopalpur	Rabindra Kumar Rana		RJD
170	Bihpur	Shailesh Kumar		RJD
171	Sultanganj (SC)	Ganesh Paswan		SP
172	Amarpur	Surendra Prasad Singh Kushwaha		RJD
173	Dhuraiya (SC)	Bhudeo Choudhary		SP
174	Banka	Ram Narayan Mandal		BJP
175	Belhar	Ramdeo Yadav		RJD
176	Katoria	Giridhari Yadav		RJD
177	Chakai	Narendra Singh		IND
178	Jhajha	Damodar Rawat		SP
179	Tarapur	Shakuni Choudhary		RJD
180	Kharagpur	Jay Prakash Narayan Yadav		RJD
181	Parbatta	Samrat Choudhary		RJD
182	Chautham	Panna Lal Singh Patel		SP
183	Khagaria	Yogendra Singh Kushwaha		CPIM
184	Alauli (SC)	Pashupati Kumar Paras		JDU
185	Monghyr	Monazir Hassan		RJD
186	Jamalpur	Upendra Prasad Verma		RJD
187	Surajgarha	Prahlad Yadav		RJD
188	Jamui	Narendra Singh		JDU
189	Sikandra (SC)	Prayaag Choudhary		KP
190	Lakhisarai	Krishna Chandra Prasad Singh		BJP
191	Sheikhpura	Sanjay Kumar Singh		INC
192	Barbigha (SC)	Ashok Chaudhary		INC
193	Asthawan	Raghunath Prasad Sharma		IND
194	Bihar	Syed Naushadunnabi		RJD
195	Rajgir (SC)	Satyadev Narayan Arya		BJP
196	Nalanda	Shrawan Kumar		SP
197	Islampur	Ramswaroop Prasad		SP
198	Hilsa	Ramcharitra Prasad Singh		SP
199	Chandi	Harinarain Singh		SP
200	Harnaut	Vishvamohan Choudhary		SP
201	Mokameh	Suraj Singh		IND
202	Barh	Bhunewashwar Prasad Singh Alias Pappu Jee		SP
203	Bakhtiarpur	Vinod Yadav		BJP
204	Fatwa (SC)	Dinesh Choudhary		RJD
205	Masaurhi	Dharmendra Prasad		RJD
206	Patna West	Navin Kishore Sinha		BJP
207	Patna Central	Sushil Kumar Modi		BJP
208	Patna East	Nand Kishore Yadav		BJP
209	Dinapur	Lalu Prasad Yadav		RJD
210	Maner	Bhai Virendra		SP
211	Phulwari (SC)	Shyam Rajak		RJD
212	Bikram	Ram Janam Sharma		BJP
213	Paliganj	Dinanath Singh		RJD
214	Sandesh	Vijayendra Kumar Singh Yadav		RJD
215	Barhara	Raghwendra Pratap Singh		RJD
216	Arrah	Amrendra Pratap Singh		BJP
217	Shahpur	Shivanand Tiwari		RJD
218	Brahmpur	Ajit Chaudhary		RJD
219	Buxar	Sukhada Pandey		BJP
220	Rajpur (SC)	Chhedi Lal Ram		BSP
221	Dumraon	Dadan Singh		IND
222	Jagdishpur	Shri Bhagwan Singh Kushwaha		SP
223	Piro	Narendra Kumar Pande		SP
224	Sahar (SC)	Ram Naresh Ram		CPIMLL
225	Karakat	Arun Singh Kushwaha		CPIMLL
226	Bikramganj	Akhlaque Ahmad		SP
227	Dinara	Ram Dhani Singh		JDU
228	Ramgarh	Jagadanand Singh		RJD
229	Mohania (SC)	Suresh Pasi		BSP
230	Bhabua	Pramod Singh		RJD
231	Chainpur	Mahabali Singh		BSP
232	Sasaram	Ashok Kushwaha		RJD
233	Chenari (SC)	Chhedi Paswan		RJD
234	Nokha	Rameshwar Prasad		BJP
235	Dehri	Md. Ilyas Husain		RJD
236	Nabinagar	Bheem Kumar		RJD
237	Deo (SC)	Suresh Paswan		RJD
238	Aurangabad	Suresh Mehta		RJD
239	Rafiganj	Sushil Kumar Singh		SP
240	Obra	Raja Ram Singh Kushwaha		CPIMLL
241	Goh	Deo Kumar Sharma		SP
242	Arwal	Akhilesh Prasad Singh		RJD
243	Kurtha	Shiv Bachan Yadav		RJD
244	Makhdumpur	Bagi Kumar Verma		RJD
245	Jahanabad	Munni Lal Yadav		RJD
246	Ghosi	Jagdish Sharma		IND
247	Belaganj	Surendra Prasad Yadav		RJD
248	Konch	Mahesh Singh Yadav		RJD
249	Gaya Mufassil	Vinod Kumar Yadvendu		RJD
250	Gaya Town	Prem Kumar		BJP
251	Imamganj (SC)	Uday Narayan Chaudhary		SP
252	Gurua	Shakeel Ahmad Kha		RJD
253	Bodh Gaya (SC)	Jitan Ram Manjhi		RJD
254	Barachatti (SC)	Bhagwatee Devi		RJD
255	Fatehpur (SC)	Shyamdeo Paswan		RJD
256	Atri	Rajendra Prasad Yadav		RJD
257	Nawada	Rajballabh Prasad		RJD
258	Rajauli (SC)	Rajaram Paswan		RJD
259	Gobindpur	Gayatri Devi		RJD
260	Warsaliganj	Aruna Devi		IND
261	Hisua	Aditya Singh		IND
262	Kodarma	Annapurna Devi		RJD
263	Barhi	Manoj Kumar Yadav		INC
264	Chatra (SC)	Satyanand Bhokta		BJP
265	Simaria (SC)	Yogendra Nath Baitha		RJD
266	Barkagaon	Loknath Mahto		BJP
267	Ramgarh	Sabir Ahmed Quaresi		CPI
268	Mandu	Teklal Mahto		JMM
269	Hazaribagh	Deo Dayal		BJP
270	Barkatha	Bhubneshwar Prasad Mehta		CPI
271	Dhanwar	Rabindra Kumar Ray		BJP
272	Bagodar	Mahendra Prasad Singh		CPIMLL
273	Jamua (SC)	Baldeo Hazra		RJD
274	Gandey	Salkhan Soren		JMM
275	Giridih	Chandra Mohan Prasad		BJP
276	Dumri	Lal Chand Mahto		JDU
277	Gomia	Madhav Lal Singh		IND
278	Bermo	Rajendra Prasad Singh		INC
279	Bokaro	Samresh Singh		IND
280	Tundi	Saba Ahmad		RJD
281	Baghmara	Jaleshwar Mahato		SP
282	Sindri	Fulchand Mandal		BJP
283	Nirsa	Gurudas Chaterjee		MCC
284	Dhanbad	Pashupati Nath Singh		BJP
285	Jharia	Bacha Singh		SP
286	Chandankiyari (SC)	Haru Rajwar		JMM
287	Baharagora	Dinesh Kumar Sarangi		BJP
288	Ghatsila (ST)	Pradeep Kumar Balmuchu		INC
289	Potka (ST)	Menka Sardar		BJP
290	Jugsalai (SC)	Dulal Bhuiyan		JMM
291	Jamshedpur East	Raghubar Das		BJP
292	Jamshedpur West	Mrigendra Pratap Singh		BJP
293	Ichagarh	Arvind Kumar Singh		BJP
294	Seraikella (ST)	Anant Ram Tudu		BJP
295	Chaibasa (ST)	Bagun Sumbrui		INC
296	Majhgaon (ST)	Badkunwar Gagrai		BJP
297	Jaganathpur (ST)	Madhu Kora		BJP
298	Manoharpur (ST)	Joba Majhi		UGDP
299	Chakradharpur (ST)	Chumnu Oraon		BJP
300	Kharsawan (ST)	Arjun Munda		BJP
301	Tamar (ST)	Ramesh Singh Munda		SP
302	Torpa (ST)	Koche Munda		BJP
303	Khunti (ST)	Nilkanth Singh Munda		BJP
304	Silli	Sudesh Mahto		UGDP
305	Khijri (ST)	Sawna Lakra		INC
306	Ranchi	Chandreshwar Prasad Singh		BJP
307	Hatia	Ramji Lal Sharda		BJP
308	Kanke (SC)	Ram Chandra Nayak		BJP
309	Mandar (ST)	Deo Kumar Dhan		INC
310	Sisai (ST)	Dinesh Oraon		BJP
311	Kolebira (ST)	Theodor Kiro		INC
312	Simdega (ST)	Niel Tirkey		INC
313	Gumla (ST)	Sudarshan Bhagat		BJP
314	Bishunpur (ST)	Chandresh Oraon		BJP
315	Lohardaga (ST)	Sadhanu Bhagat		BJP
316	Latehar (SC)	Baidyanath Ram		JDU
317	Manika (ST)	Yamuna Singh		BJP
318	Panki	Madhu Singh		SP
319	Daltonganj	Inder Singh Namdhari		JDU
320	Garhwa	Girinath Singh		RJD
321	Bhawanathpur	Ram Chandra Prasad Keshri		SP
322	Bishrampur	Chandrashekhar Dubey		INC
323	Chhatarpur (SC)	Manoj Kumar		RJD
324	Hussainabad	Sanjay Kumar Singh Yadav		RJD

Government formation

The result was a setback for the BJP, which in media campaigns was emerging with a massive victory. RJD emerged as the single largest party. In March 2000, Nitish Kumar was elected Chief Minister of Bihar for the first time at the behest of the Vajpayee Government in the centre. NDA and allies had 151 MLAs whereas Lalu Prasad Yadav had 159 MLAs in the 324 member house. Both alliances were less than the majority mark that is 163. Nitish resigned before he could prove his numbers in the house. He lasted 7 days in the post.

With the political manoeuvring of Lalu Yadav, Rabri Devi was sworn in as the Chief Minister again. The ruling Rashtriya Janata Dal agreed to the formation of Jharkhand though a large chunk of Bihar's revenues went to the new State, because the party then had a majority of its own in the Bihar Assembly after the bifurcation of the State.

The media largely failed to gauge the ground level polarisation in Bihar. According to Sanjay Kumar:

there can be no doubt about one thing that the upper-caste media was always anti-Lalu and it was either not aware of the ground level polarisation in Bihar, or deliberately ignored it. If the election result did not appear as a setback for RJD, it was largely because of the bleak picture painted by the media. Against this background, RJD's defeat had appeared like a victory.

Even after serving imprisonment in connection with the 1997 scam, Lalu seemed to relish his role as the lower-caste jester. He argued that corruption charges against him and his family were the conspiracy of the upper-caste bureaucracy and media elites threatened by the rise of peasant cultivator castes.