Patna | With a landslide victory in Bihar assembly polls placing the NDA firmly in the saddle, leaders of the alliance on Saturday appeared to have got down to the brass tacks of forming a new government in the state.
Coalition partners made a beeline at 1, Anne Marg, the official residence of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, the longest-serving incumbent, who heads the JD(U).
Notable visitors included Union minister Chirag Paswan, who is excited at the prospects of his Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) sharing power in the state as well.
“I have congratulated Nitish Kumar ji on the victory. The NDA’s win puts paid to the opposition’s false narrative that there has been a rift between the two of us. Even during the campaign, the CM canvassed in seats where our candidate was contesting. We reciprocated the gesture and supported the JD(U) candidate in Alauli, which has been our home turf,” Paswan told reporters.
Situated in his native Khagaria district, Alauli, a reserved seat, was represented by the Union minister’s late father Ram Vilas Paswan in the 1970s, and, after he became the MP from Hajipur, uncle Pashupati Kumar Paras - now estranged from the family - represented the constituency several times.
JD(U)’s Ram Chandra Sada, a former MLA, wrested the seat from sitting RJD MLA Ram Vriksh Sada, while Yash Raj, the son of Paras, who was making his debut from his father’s party Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party, finished third.
Paswan ducked queries as to whether the LJP(RV) was hoping to have one of its MLAs as the deputy CM, saying “CM and his deputy are decided jointly by all the legislators”.
He, however, added “personally, I feel that Nitish Kumar ji should continue to lead the government”.
The JD(U) president, who would turn 75 in a few months from now, has not been enjoying robust health for some time, though the polls saw him carrying out a dogged campaign.
The JD(U), with 85 seats, has emerged as the second largest party after the BJP, which has a tally of 89. Although Kumar, who has been an MLC, did not contest the elections himself, the polls have been seen as a referendum on him.
Another NDA partner Santosh Kumar Suman, whose father Jitan Ram Manjhi, a Union minister and MP from Gaya, is the founder of Hindustani Awam Morcha, also expressed the view that the JD(U) supremo should continue as the chief minister.
“I think Nitish Kumar will continue as the CM. Everything will be finalised in the next two-three days,” said Suman, after a meeting with the JD(U) chief.
While Suman is also an MLC, his wife Deepa and mother-in-law Jyoti Devi are among the five winning candidates of the HAM, which had contested altogether six seats.
Another notable visitor to the chief minister’s residence was Ram Kripal Yadav, a BJP leader and former Union minister whose political career has been resurrected with a victory from Danapur assembly seat.
He expressed bewilderment over speculations that the BJP was trying to back him for the deputy CM’s post, in a bid to break the near complete sway of RJD, the main opposition party, over Yadavs, the most populous caste in Bihar.
Once a trusted aide of RJD president Lalu Prasad, Yadav was mocked at his former mentor’s son and heir apparent Tejashwi Yadav for having claimed that the INDIA bloc would be forming its government on November 18.
“These are daydreams,” said Yadav, who had been in political wilderness since he losing Patliputra Lok Sabha seat to Prasad’s eldest daughter Misa Bharti in the general elections last year.
He also refused to comment on outbursts of Bharti’s younger sister Rohini Acharya, who has announced that she was quitting politics and “disowning” her family, blaming the decision on two close aides of Tejashwi Yadav.
BJP OBC national general secretary Nikhil Anand, however, sought to fish in troubled waters, as he came out with a statement, lauding Acharya for having donated her kidney to her ailing father a few years ago.
Anand also exhorted Acharya and Bharti to “fight” and assume leadership of their father’s party.
The RJD, which was the single largest party in the outgoing assembly, has been drubbed, winning less than 30 seats, a performance that is likely to put question marks on the leadership of Tejashwi Yadav.
Meanwhile, the Jan Suraaj Party, the much-hyped political outfit floated by former poll strategist Prashant Kishor, which failed to make a mark in the elections, claimed that many of its supporters ended up voting for NDA “out of fear that the RJD may win and bring back the jungle raj”.
The party’s national president Uday Singh, a former BJP MP, also claimed that “polarisation” in the aftermath of the Red Fort car blast at Delhi and “bribing of voters” by the state government through doles and freebies, had played a role in the NDA’s better-than-expected performance.
New Delhi | Stunned by the Bihar election results, Congress and other opposition parties on Saturday questioned the Election Commission's role during the poll process and blamed the "hurried" Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls for their poor show.
The BJP claimed that the massive mandate for NDA reflected the people's approval of SIR and they have "punished" the opposition alliance for defaming the country and creating divisions on the lines of castes and religion. The ruling party claimed that the electoral verdict will pave the way for NDA victory in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the Congress leaders cannot explain the poll rout to its allies and even to their workers, so they have "found an easy way out by blaming the EVMs (Electronic Voting Machines), the Election Commission and electoral rolls revision".
Heaping generous praise on Modi, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and key NDA partner N Chandrababu Naidu credited the prime minister for the coalition’s thumping majority in Bihar, saying it proved that “right governance is right politics”.
“Narendra Modi’s leadership (has) produced a new model -- empowerment through welfare, development and good governance,” Naidu told PTI in an interview.
The Congress' top leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and party chief Mallikarjun Kharge, went into a huddle in Delhi to discuss the poll outcome. The party won only six of the 61 seats it contested, its second-worst show in the state after 2010, when it won only four seats.
Gandhi did not speak to the media persons after the meeting. Asked about the Bihar poll outcome, AICC general secretary (Organisation) K C Venugopal said the Congress, its alliance partners and the people of Bihar "cannot believe it".
"This result that has come from Bihar is unbelievable for all of us," he said. Venugopal sought to put the entire blame on the Election Commission, alleging that the poll process is questionable. The party would soon analyse the result and would come out with concrete proof in the next few weeks, he told reporters.
"The Election Commission is totally one-sided. Whatever they are doing, there is no transparency at all, and therefore, this process is questionable," he said. The Congress has claimed that the election results in Bihar without doubt reflect "vote chori on a gigantic scale".
Speaking in the same vein, the Shiv Sena (UBT) claimed that Bihar elections were a "scam" facilitated by the EC and accused the ruling BJP-led NDA of winning through vote theft.
In an editorial in the party mouthpiece Saamana, the Uddhav Thackeray-led party claimed that the BJP's victory formula appears to be the same as in Maharashtra, where the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi "was not allowed to win" even 50 seats. "Votes were again stolen, based on which, the BJP and (Bihar Chief Minister) Nitish Kumar won the election," it alleged.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin, while congratulating veteran JD (U) leader Nitish Kumar for his decisive victory, targeted the EC, saying the election result "does not whitewash the misdeeds and reckless actions" of the poll body
“The Bihar election result has a lesson for everyone. Election outcomes reflect welfare delivery, social and ideological coalitions, clear political messaging, and dedicated management until the last vote is polled,” the Chief Minister said in a post on the social media platform ‘X.’
"...The reputation of the #ECI is at its lowest point,” he said, adding citizens deserved a stronger and more impartial Election Commission. Stalin is the president of the DMK which is opposing SIR.
BJP national general secretary Tarun Chugh said the people of Bihar have made it clear that they want livelihood, prosperity and development, not the opposition's “Jungal Raj, mafia and politics of Muslim League and Naxalies”. “People have punished you for your anti-national misdeeds,” Chugh told PTI Videos.
Former Tamil Nadu BJP chief Annamalai termed the Bihar result as a turning point in India's political history and said that the Bihar electorate has smashed all lies, baseless allegations and "empty charges" made by the Congress and Rahul Gandhi during the poll campaign. He said it would have an impact in the states that would go to Assembly polls in 2026 and the BJP would emerge with an impressive record in West Bengal to bring the 'jungle raj' there to an end.
However, Trinamool Congress MP Sagarika Ghose claimed West Bengal would never accept the BJP's politics and asserted Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is 24x7 on the ground with the people and not a 'hawaii jahaz' (aeroplane) leader.
Annamalai claimed Tamil Nadu would also have NDA rule as a direct sequel to Bihar poll result. Defending SIR, he said it was welcomed by the people as it was being implemented to put in place genuine and error-free electoral rolls.
BJP Tamil Nadu chief Nainar Nagendran also claimed that the NDA will script a resounding win in 2026 in the state, adding the Bihar results were a recognition of good governance and a rejection of the "misinformation" campaign on SIR.
BJP Kerala Chief Rajeev Chandrasekhar said through the huge mandate of the NDA in Bihar, there is now clarity with regard to the implementation of the SIR. "Everybody can now see the impact of the removal of fake voters through the SIR. That's why the parties, including the CPI (M) and the Congress in Kerala, are opposing the SIR and trying to block it," he said.
CPI(M) Kerala state secretary M V Govindan said that, though the primary reason for the defeat of Mahagathbandhan was the "targeted deletion" of votes by the Election Commission through a hurried process of SIR, the Congress and other secular parties should analyse the other factors behind the poor show and take due course correction.
Speaking in Baramati on Saturday, NCP (SP) president Sharad Pawar wondered how the Election Commission allowed the distribution of funds during the poll process in Bihar. He was referring to the Mukhyamantri Mahila Rojgar Yojana, which distributes money to a woman member of each family for setting up a business.
"The Election Commission should think if the money distribution (by the Bihar government) was correct," he said, raising concerns over the possible implementation of the Bihar template in future elections.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis asked the Opposition to accept defeat, identify mistakes and introspect. Asked about Pawar's statement, Fadnavis said, "Aisa hain ki jo jeeta wohi Sikandar (the thing is that the one who wins becomes the emperor)."
"After the defeat, one must accept the result, acknowledge the mistakes and engage in introspection. However, our Opposition does not want to do introspection," he told reporters on the sidelines of an event here.
In Patna, former poll strategist Prashant Kishor's Jan Suraaj Party, which failed to open its account in the Bihar assembly, claimed that a section of its voters ended up siding with the BJP-led NDA "out of fear of return of jungle raj under the RJD".
Its national president Uday Singh also claimed "polarisation" took place in the Seemanchal region in the aftermath of the blast near Red Fort in Delhi, a day before the November 11 polling. He also played down the "vote theft" charge, saying "even if there were a few anomalies, these could not have been on a scale large enough to make much of a difference".
After the RJD's dismal performance, party president Lalu Prasad’s daughter Rohini Acharya announced that she was "quitting politics" and severing ties with the family. The RJD's seat tally slipped to 24 from 75.