1995 Bihar Legislative Assembly election

1995 Bihar Legislative assembly election

← 1990 25 and 28 March 1995 2000 →
All 324 seats of the Bihar Legislative Assembly 163 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	61.79%
Majority party Minority party Third party   Leader Lalu Prasad Yadav Yashwant Sinha Jagannath Mishra Party JD BJP INC(I) Leader since 1990 1995 1989 Leader's seat Raghopur, Danapur Ranchi Did not contest Last election 122 39 71 Seats won 167 41 29 Seat change 45 2 42 Popular vote 9,669,589 4,480,363 5,622,952 Percentage 27.98% 12.96% 16.27% Swing 2.37% 1.35% 8.51%   Fourth party   Leader Indrajit Gupta Party CPI Leader since 1990 Leader's seat Did not contest Last election 23 Seats won 26 Seat change 3 Popular vote 1,645,765 Percentage 4.76% Swing 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.^[1] 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.^[2]

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).^[3] 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).^[4]