The ruling coalition won 125 seats in the 243-member State Assembly against 110 secured by the Opposition Grand Alliance.
Overcoming 15-year anti-incumbency, a mutinous former ally, and a spirited defiance of a resurgent Opposition that rose from its ashes like a proverbial phoenix after the 2019 Lok Sabha poll debacle, the NDA led by Nitish Kumar returned to the power in Bihar on Wednesday. with a slim majority.
The ruling coalition won 125 seats in the 243-member State Assembly against 110 secured by the Grand Opposition Alliance to pave the way for a fourth consecutive term for Mr. Kumar in office, but with less influence after a debilitating fall in the number of JD (U) legislators who dropped from 71 to 43 in 2015.
Mr. Kumar was then a member of the Grand Alliance which included Lalu Prasad’s RJD and Congress.
Despite its defeat, the RJD, whose campaign was led by Tejashwi Yadav, the youngest son and heir to the supreme Lalu Prasad party, emerged as the largest party with 75 seats. The BJP, which led the table for several hours during the countdown that spanned more than 16 hours, finished second with a tally of 74 seats.
Despite the drop in numbers, Kumar, who was declared the NDA’s top ministerial candidate by BJP top brass, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party boss JP Nadda, will take over the reins of government.
Much of Mr. Kumar’s plight can be attributed to the damage that Chirag Paswan’s LJP inflicted on his JD (U). Down in the garbage cans with just one MLA, the party ruined JD (U) by at least 30 seats.
JD (U) spokesperson KC Tyagi said PTI in New Delhi that a “sinister” campaign was carried out against Nitish Kumar as part of a “conspiracy”.
“Apne bhi shamil the aur begane bhi (ours also hurt us along with outsiders),” he said, without mentioning any names.
However, he expressed confidence that Kumar will become Prime Minister again, noting that top BJP leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Interior Minister Amit Shah, have made it clear that he will lead the government if the ruling NDA retains power.
Bihar BJP Chairman Sanjay Jaiswal expressed similar views in Patna when he said in Patna that “the matter has been clarified by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party chief JP Nadda long before the elections.”
Apart from BJP’s 74 seats and JD (U )’s 43, ruling alliance partners HAM and Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) won four seats each.
The drastic drop in the number of JD (U) MLAs, however, will likely make the BJP, which has so far played a second role for Kumar, more assertive, and may insist on more participation in the ministerial pie and more voice. . in governance.
Aside from Mr. Kumar’s meritorious performance as administrator, multiple Muslim vote seekers, including the Great Secular Democratic Front (GDSF), comprising AIMIM, BSP and Asaduddin Owaisi’s Upendra Kushwaha RLSP, worked for the NDA and ruined the possibilities of Mahagathbandhan. Muslim and Yadav voters have long formed the base of the RJD base of support.
The Owai AIMIM emerged as a surprise election package, winning five seats. The party had established itself by winning a seat in a by-election in Bihar previously, but made significant inroads into the Seemanchanchal region, which has a large presence of Muslim voters. His ally BSP also secured a seat.
Mr. Kumar, who has a clean image and is considered incorruptible, is credited with ridding the state of the “raj of the jungle”, as the Lalu-Rabri government of the 15 years prior to 2005 is often described by its critics.
The JD (U) leader also received praise for his impetus in developing infrastructure and improving the health and education system.
Furthermore, Mr. Modi’s enduring charisma not only fueled the alliance’s victory, but also helped the BJP achieve a pre-eminent position in the NDA in Bihar for the first time and cut off his former bete noire Nitish Kumar, once considered a secular alternative for him, for Talla.
The elections also saw the coming of age of Tejashwi Yadav, who was shown to be an indefatigable leader after RJD’s unprecedented beating in Lok Sabha polls last year when he was unable to open his account.
The NDA had secured all but one of the 40 seats in the state, leaving the young leader dormant and demoralized his party. Tejashwi Yadav’s ability to lead the party in the absence of his charismatic father and party supreme, Lalu Prasad, who had landed in jail after being convicted of forage scam cases, was questioned.
However, after the Assembly elections were announced, he steeled himself for the struggle ahead and almost single-handedly brought the five-party Grand Alliance surprisingly close to power in a fight in which an army of battle-hardened veterans lined up against him.
An important result of the grueling electoral struggle between the two alliances was the resurgence of the left, which aligned itself with the RJD-Congress combination after being pushed to the margins in post-Mandal-era Bihar politics.
The biggest winner was the CPI-ML, which won 12 seats, followed by the CPI and the CPI-M (two each). Except for the CPI-ML, which had three seats in the outgoing Assembly, none of the left-wing parties had a presence in the Chamber.
The Tejashwi brothers Yadav and Tej Pratap won the Raghopur and Hasanpur seats with impressive margins of 38,174 and 21,139 votes respectively.
Prominent losers from the RJD included Abdul Bari Siddiqui, former head of the state party, and Lalu Prasad’s Man Friday Bhola Yadav, who lost in the Keoti and Hayaghat seats in Darbhanga, respectively.
Bihar’s Chief Minister Vijendra Prasad Yadav of JD (U) won from Supual, and BJP’s Niraj Singh Babloo, a cousin of actor Sushant Singh Rajput, whose mysterious death became an electoral matter, retained the Chhatapur seat.
The President of the State Assembly, Vijay Kumar Chaudhary, of JD (U), was among the winners.
Former Ace shooter and BJP Commonwealth gold medalist Shreyasi Singh won Jamui’s seat by more than 41,000 votes, but the daughter of veteran socialist leader Sharad Yadav, Subhashini, lost in Bihariganj.
HAM President Jitan Ram Manjhi defeated former State Assembly Speaker Uday Narayan Chaudhary in Imamganj of Gaya district.
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