Political scorecard in 2025: Top 10 winners and losers of this year

NEW DELHI: It has been a twelvemonth bookended by elections. It started with the aggravated campaigning for the Delhi assembly elections and ended with the astonishing results of Bihar. In between, determination were parliamentary showdowns, infights and figures emerging and fading distant from the centre stage.In 2025, portion respective heavyweights failed to unrecorded up to expectations, galore asserted their spot backmost in, proving themselves the acheronian horses of Indian politics.The twelvemonth was besides a reminder that powerfulness is seldom static — and that endurance often matters arsenic overmuch arsenic victory.So, who were the winners and losers successful authorities successful 2025? Here's a look.

Winners

Nitish KumarAhead of the Bihar assembly elections, the absorption was successful a hurry to constitute the governmental obituary of main curate Nitish Kumar.

Throughout the campaign, Nitish’s erstwhile lawman and RJD scion Tejashwi Yadav claimed that the main curate was "mentally unfit" and "too old" to govern the state.Additionally, governmental pundits were besides skeptical astir Nitish’s return. They flagged anti-incumbency and infighting wrong the NDA to reason that the likelihood were stacked against him.

However, the results presented a antithetic picture. Bihar erstwhile again handed a sweeping mandate to the NDA, extending Nitish Kumar’s two-decade-long clasp connected power.

The NDA secured a thumping majority, winning 202 seats successful the 243-member House.Within the NDA, the BJP emerged arsenic the strongest performer, securing 89 seats -- its best-ever effect successful the authorities -- followed by Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) with 85 seats.SiddaramaiahAs the Congress authorities reached the halfway people successful Karnataka connected November 20, speech of a concealed statement became public. Several MLAs and MLCs from lawman main curate DK Shivakumar’s faction camped successful Delhi to property the enactment precocious bid to honour the “deal” and marque him main curate for the adjacent 2 and a fractional years.DKS added substance to the speculation aft helium confirmed the “secret deal,” claiming that determination had so been “a confidential knowing connected enactment modulation among 5 oregon six leaders” soon aft the Congress won a landslide successful the 2023 elections.

This triggered 1 of the astir cordial tussles betwixt main curate Siddaramaiah and his deputy. The 2 leaders adjacent sat down for meal meetings to scope an understanding, but the question implicit the main ministerial station remained unanswered.For now, the standoff appears to person eased. Siddaramaiah seems to person bought much clip from the precocious command, portion DKS appears to person chosen to hold it out, with some leaders refraining from making immoderate nationalist remarks connected the issue.Nitin NabinBihar MLA Nitin Nabin’s elevation arsenic the moving president of the Bharatiya Janata Party was a emergence that fewer saw coming. While governmental pundits were speculating astir the names of bigwigs with beardown RSS links, Nabin’s assignment marked a large organisational displacement astatine the apical of the ruling party.Although helium is lone 45 years old, Nabin is simply a five-term MLA and has handled respective cardinal organisational responsibilities. He served arsenic the Bihar president of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha from 2016 to 2019 and managed the BJP’s Lok Sabha and assembly campaigns successful Sikkim successful 2019, earlier being appointed co-incharge of Congress-ruled Chhattisgarh successful 2021.At a clip erstwhile the Congress was considered the frontrunner to clasp powerfulness successful the 2023 Chhattisgarh assembly polls, Nabin’s inputs to the BJP enactment predicted victory, which yet came true.Caste arithmetic besides aligns with Nabin’s elevation arsenic enactment president. The prime of Nabin, an upper-caste Kayastha -- a assemblage that constitutes hardly 0.6% of Bihar’s colonisation and is considered politically insignificant successful the authorities -- is important due to the fact that Kayasthas are among the cardinal castes successful West Bengal, wherever assembly elections are scheduled for May adjacent year.Welfare schemes targeting womenPolitical mobilisation of the women ballot slope done payment schemes saw its highest successful the 2025 Bihar assembly elections.

Just days up of the elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi rolled retired the Mukhya Mantri Mahila Rojgar Yojana, which credited Rs 10,000 to the slope accounts of 1.2 crore women. Additionally, societal information schemes similar escaped energy up to 125 units and a pension increment were besides announced by main curate Nitish Kumar successful the run-up to the elections.

This translated into the polling booths arsenic women voters outnumbered men and shattered turnout records.

While the wide turnout stood astatine 66.91 per cent, an bonzer 71.6 per cent of women formed their votes -- astir 9 percent points higher than the 62.8 per cent turnout among men.This overwhelming information tilted the mandate toward the NDA, boosted by payment schemes for women. The opposition betwixt the 2 alliances was simple: the NDA had already delivered the benefit, portion Mahagathbandhan’s connection remained a run promise.

For galore women, that quality -- wealth already successful the slope versus a committedness of aboriginal assistance -- mattered.Chirag PaswanAt a clip erstwhile stars are not aligning for Dalit leaders similar Mayawati and Jitan Ram Manjhi, Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) main Chirag Paswan emerged arsenic the 3rd leader successful the NDA's occurrence successful Bihar.LJP(RS) won 19 retired of 29 seats, propelling the NDA past the 200-seat mark.Chirag’s dominance successful Bihar and wrong the NDA was evident adjacent during the seat-sharing talks, erstwhile his enactment got a just stock contempt lone 1 of its 143 candidates winning during the 2020 assembly polls.

His bargaining powerfulness came from the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, erstwhile LJP(RV) won each 5 seats it contested.

Losers

CongressThe luck wheels did not rotation for Congress this twelvemonth either, arsenic 2024 was marred with canvass routs and infighting for the party. Wounded by the defeats successful Haryana and Maharashtra successful 2024, the expansive aged enactment continued its lackluster show successful 2025.It began with the canvass rout successful the Delhi assembly elections, wherever Congress could not triumph adjacent a azygous seat.

In summation to the canvass results, it besides suffered an confederation breakup arsenic collateral harm aft the Aam Aadmi Party decided to locomotion distant from the INDIA bloc.In the Bihar assembly elections, Congress experienced its steepest diminution aft it managed to triumph lone six seats. Rahul Gandhi travelled implicit 1,300 kilometres to galvanise elector enactment but fell level successful examination to the section issues that resonated much powerfully with Bihar's electorate.Meanwhile, the enactment encountered different situation successful Karnataka aft a tussle broke retired betwixt Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar implicit the main ministerial post. Although the concern seems defused for now, the enactment is sitting connected a ticking clip weaponry that whitethorn detonate soon.Moreover, respective Congress leaders flagged superior problems wrong the party. One of them was erstwhile Odisha MLA Mohammed Moquim, who wrote to Sonia Gandhi, calling for an “open-heart surgery” successful the enactment and flagging a increasing disconnect betwixt the enactment and its workers.

In his missive to Sonia Gandhi dated December 8, ex-Odisha MLA Mohammed Moquim highlighted six consecutive predetermination losses successful Odisha and 3 successful the Lok Sabha portion besides questioning the enactment of Mallikarjun Kharge arsenic the party's leader, claiming that the 83-year-old seasoned “is incapable to resonate with India's youth.”Lalu clan2025 was a twelvemonth of autumn for the Lalu clan. Lalu Yadav, on with his household and party, had to endure setbacks passim the year.

In the Bihar elections, the enactment lone won 25 seats successful the assembly elections, registering 1 of its poorest performances.Soon, things went southbound connected the household beforehand arsenic well. Just days aft the canvass results, Rohini Acharya -- the 2nd of RJD main Lalu Prasad's 9 children and the donor of the kidney that saved him -- announced that she was quitting authorities and “disowning” her family.Reportedly, Rohini had a heated statement with her member Tejashwi Yadav implicit RJD's assembly predetermination disaster.

She besides alleged she was accused of donating a “dirty kidney” to her begetter aft “extracting crores of rupees and a Lok Sabha ticket.”Earlier, Lalu had expelled his eldest, Tej Pratap Yadav, from the enactment for six years aft helium shared a photograph with a pistillate connected Facebook and claimed helium had been successful a narration with her for 12 years.Later, Tej Pratap went connected to signifier his ain enactment -- Jan Shakti Janta Dal -- which drew a blank successful the assembly elections.Prashant KishorPrashant Kishor, erstwhile hailed arsenic India’s apical predetermination strategist, entered the Bihar polls arsenic a governmental aspirant and walked retired arsenic its biggest loser.After a two-year padyatra crossed Bihar and monolithic media hype astir Jan Suraaj, Kishor positioned himself arsenic a transformative alternate to some the NDA and the Mahagathbandhan. However, Jan Suraaj did not negociate to triumph a azygous seat, losing information deposits successful the bulk of the constituencies wherever it fielded candidates.However, PK has repeatedly said that helium won’t backmost down. His adjacent trial comes overmuch sooner than 2030 -- the panchayat elections successful 2026 -- wherever helium whitethorn effort to marque a comeback.Arvind KejriwalAfter 2 sweeping victories successful 2015 and 2020, Kejriwal's AAP was swept retired of powerfulness successful the 2025 Delhi assembly elections. Of the 70 assembly constituencies, the BJP clinched 48 seats, portion AAP managed to unafraid lone 22.Adding insult to injury, Kejriwal besides mislaid the New Delhi spot to BJP's Parvesh Verma.Rising to powerfulness arsenic an anti-graft crusader, Kejriwal recovered himself embroiled successful corruption cases days up of the elections.After walking retired of jailhouse connected bail, Kejriwal resigned from the apical post, seeking validation from the nationalist of Delhi. The national territory, however, refused to springiness the stamp of 'Mr Clean' to Kejriwal.DK ShivakumarDespite pulling each instrumentality successful the book, DK Shivakumar failed to regenerate Karnataka main curate Siddaramaiah.

After the tussle came retired successful the open, DKS made respective trips to Delhi, but the precocious bid has not budged.

DKS checked each the criteria to go the Karnataka CM. He generated funds for the enactment during the elections, and Vokkaliga seers -- 1 of the strongest sects successful Karnataka -- are besides backing him. Additionally, the bulk of Congress MLAs are connected his side.Despite this, DKS has decided to instrumentality a measurement back, obey the enactment precocious bid and hold for the close clip to travel arsenic the precocious bid huddles successful Delhi to present an answer.Honorable mention: Shashi TharoorThrough his charm and “Tharoorosaurus,” Congress MP Shashi Tharoor remained successful the headlines passim the year. Another crushed helium grabbed eyeballs was his standoff with his ain enactment connected antithetic occasions. Despite being a subordinate of the CWC, the Thiruvananthapuram MP skipped respective important enactment meetings and refused to toed the enactment enactment connected aggregate issues. This irked galore elder leaders of the expansive aged party, starring to repeated to-and-fro exchanges connected societal media platforms and successful media bites.It each began aft Shashi Tharoor emerged arsenic 1 of the salient voices articulating New Delhi’s presumption pursuing the Pahalgam panic onslaught and India’s Operation Sindoor. Later, the Centre invited him to pb an Indian delegation arsenic portion of a planetary outreach aft Operation Sindoor, adjacent arsenic the Congress was raising pugnacious questions for the government. This did not spell down good with his enactment colleagues, who accused him of cosying up to the BJP.However, conscionable up of the Kerala assembly elections, the Congress is uncovering it hard to instrumentality strict disciplinary enactment against a fashionable person successful the state, efficaciously giving Tharoor a escaped lane to thrust connected the incorrect side.Now, it is yet to beryllium determined whether Tharoor came retired arsenic a victor oregon a loser aft the tug-of-war league with his ain party.