PATNA: National Democratic Alliance (NDA) won a stunning landslide in Bihar, with the governing coalition headed by chief minister Nitish Kumar bagging 202 of 243 assembly seats in a hugely one-sided outcome that underscores the JDU boss’s political resilience despite two decades in office, and PM Narendra Modi’s sway over voters, while deflating the Grand Alliance’s Rahul Gandhi-led campaign against “vote theft”.The overwhelming victory puts BJP on a firm footing ahead of approaching encounters, especially in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu.The outcome, which surpassed NDA’s own expectations, is seen as a pro-incumbency vote conveying gratitude to Nitish Kumar, who put the state back on track after a widely perceived 15 years of anarchy, and marks a “coming of age” moment for women voters who turned out in huge numbers to reciprocate Nitish-led NDA govt’s measures to empower them using a whole spectrum of means. It also speaks to the success of a strategy to overpower the numerically robust Muslim-Yadav combination with a broader tent covering “most backward classes”, “non-Yadav backward”, extremely backward classes, and significant sections of Dalits.It was the first time that women – including possibly those from the Yadav community – in a supposedly “socially backward” state made themselves felt as an independent electoral category. The landslide should potentially put Nitish Kumar on the way to becoming one of India’s longest-serving CMs. Encouraged by largest party status, many in BJP may ask it to claim Bihar CM’s chair Bihar voters disregarded concerns about CM Nitish Kumar’s health and past political flip-flops to vote overwhelmingly for him. JDU’s score of 85, which would have looked improbable after the underwhelming 43 it managed five years ago, was facilitated also by perfect coordination with BJP.
Nitish Does It Again: Alliance Back With Landmark 202 Seats
BJP, fueled by Modi’s popularity in the state, has for the first time emerged as the single largest party in the state, an achievement that may encourage many in the party to stake claim to the chief ministership. BJP was also the glue for the coalition.Other members of the NDA alliance – Chirag Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party, Union minister Jitanram Manjhi’s HAM and Upendra Kushwaha’s RLM – contributed to the thumping win with spectacular strike rates.In contrast, the rival RJD-led Mahagathbandhan fared poorly. The Tejashwi-led RJD barely escaped the political ignominy of slumping below its poorest score of 22, which it had crashed to in 2010. Congress, in keeping with what has become a pattern, again fared disastrously, plumbing to an embarrassing single-digit score of 6. CPI-ML’s streak of successes since 2020 also came to a halt, with the leftist formation winning 2.Asaduddin Owaisi’s AIMIM has secured 5 seats, but the significance of its success stretches beyond the numbers in that it reflects a yearning among Muslims to diversity options beyond “secular” options led by non-Muslims.The coronation of Tejashwi, a CM-in-waiting for five years now, has been further delayed. He now must contend with the risk of BJP making overtures to Yadavs, with RJD having been out of govt for almost 20 years now. Nitish has never dropped his attempt to claim the Muslim vote and may redouble his efforts.In terms of national politics, the Gandhi-led Congress is the bigger loser, with his “vote theft” claim not getting any traction with Bihar voters. Congress responded to the shock by sticking to its guns. But it may come under pressure from within to revisit the drawing board.The biggest letdown, however, was Prashant Kishor, whose Jan Suraaj Party drew a blank, proving yet again that a successful career in political consultancy does not automatically translate into one’s own political success.
