NDA sweeps Bihar elections, decimates Mahagathbandhan

The ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) decimated both the opposition Mahagathbandhan and the newly floated Jan Suraaj in the Bihar Assembly elections, securing a three-fourths majority in the 243-member House in a verdict that reaffirmed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s enduring appeal.

The victory could not have been more resounding as the NDA surged ahead in over 200 seats. The BJP emerged as the single-largest party — a first in Bihar’s electoral history — with a strike rate of 90 per cent, winning 89 of the 101 seats it contested.

The JD(U) made a spectacular recovery by securing 85 of the 101 seats it fielded its candidates from, compared to 43 in the 2020 elections.

Chirag Paswan belied political expectations as his Lok Janshakti Party (RV) won in 19 of the 29 seats in its kitty, which were considered the most difficult constituencies due to the RJD’s dominance.

The other NDA allies, HAM and RLD, which contested six seats each, won five and four, respectively.

The main opposition RJD, which held 80 seats in the outgoing Assembly, just won 25 of the 143 seats it contested. The Congress, which won 19 seats in 2020, slid down to just six of the 61 seats it fought from. The VIP, founded by Mukesh Sahani, failed to win even a single seat of the 15 it had fielded candidates in.

The CPI(ML)L, which fought 20 seats as a part of the Mahagatbandhan, won two seats—Paliganj and Karakat—while the CPI(M), which had contested four, won only one—Bibhutipur. The CPI did not win any of the seats. In 2020, the CPI(ML)L had contested 19 seats and won 12, the CPI had fought six seats while the CPI(M) fought on four seats. Both won two seats each.

RJD leader and Mahagatbandhan’s CM face Tejashwi Yadav had a tense moment as he trailed for a long time in the family citadel Raghopur before defeating his nearest BJP rival by over 13,000 votes. “Tejashwi has become ‘Failashwi’,” remarked his elder rebel brother Tej Pratap Yadav, who himself lost from Mahua, but ensured the defeat of the RJD candidate.

Election strategist-turned-politician Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraaj proved to be a damp squib. Not only did the party fail to win even a single seat, 98 per cent of its candidates lost their deposits. Only five Jan Suraaj nominees were able to save their deposits and the party secured less than 2 per cent of total votes polled. Ironically, Kishor had repeatedly said in the media before the Assembly elections that he would quit politics if Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) got more than 25 seats.

Incidentally, the AIMIM repeated its 2020 performance of winning five seats in Muslim-dominated Seemanchal, giving a clear signal that it could not be taken for granted. The AIMIM had approached the RJD asking for six seats to be a part of the Mahagathbandhan, but the demand was rejected.

The NDA claimed back seats in Buxar, Aurangabad, Rohtas and other districts where it had fared poorly in 2020. It also managed to wipe out the RJD in several districts, including Darbhanga, Sitamarhi and East Champaran.

The arithmetic of the new Assembly will be a relief for the BJP as the saffron party, LJP, HAM and the RLM account for 117 of the total 202 NDA seats, giving very little space for Nitish to make a U-turn, as he has done repeatedly in the past. It has reasons to celebrate, as it did at the party office in Patna on Friday even as BJP leader and Deputy CM Samrat Choudhary met CM Nitish.

In the RJD and the Congress camps, there was silence and gloom. “It’s the joint victory of the Election Commission and the BJP as the state government was allowed to give freebies even during the election,” said Lalit Yadav, a seven-time RJD MLA who was defeated from Darbhanga (Rural) seat.