Results will not impact Bihar equation: NDA
PATNA: The bypoll results in Bihar are not going to affect the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA), several top ruling alliance leaders said here on Wednesday, contradicting the Opposition’s claims that the results were a ‘huge setback’ for the 8-month old coalition.
Chief minister Nitish Kumar said the results were along expected lines as the electorate had voted out of sympathy for the candidates.
Several Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Janata Dal (United) leaders reposed faith in Kumar’s leadership going into the 2019 general elections and backed his theory of ‘sympathy votes’.
However, having won a Lok Sabha seat as well as an assembly seat, leaders of the Lalu Prasadled Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) spared no opportunity to pull up Nitish for his waning popularity, allegedly after dumping the Grand Alliance (GA) for the NDA.
“The results are a huge setback for the NDA,” senior RJD leader Shivanand Tiwary said amid celebrations. “Their leaders claimed that the RJD would be wiped out, but results have proved otherwise,” he added.
Having returned to the NDA fold in July 2017, the JD (U) had hoped to ride the 2010 wave , however, it could not dent the RJD bastions of Araria and Jehanabad.
WHAT IT MEANS FOR THE BJP AND THE JD(U)
“Though it won’t affect the alliance, it definitely indicates CM Nitish Kumar’s waning popularity. There is a general perception that he is at mercy of the BJP,” said political expert, DM Diwakar of the AN Sinha Institute of Social Sciences.
The Araria parliamentary seat was crucial for the GA and the NDA. Though the RJD had an edge with a 40% Muslim and 20% Yadav vote bank — its traditional voters — the NDA had enough to try and corner the RJD.
BJP leader Sushil Modi, while addressing an election rally in Araria, had said the RJD would not be able to match the combined strength of the NDA. The results proved him wrong.
Despite optimism, JD(U) leaders are wary. “With the Lok Sabha elections a year away, the alliance will definitely have to rethink its strategy,” said a JD (U) spokesperson.
The BJP however, said Wednesday’s result was not an indicator.
“Bypolls do not create any impact on general elections,” said BJP spokesperson, Rajiv Ranjan.
The results, he said, are an outcome of a sympathy wave across the three constituencies where the winning parties of the previous poll retained their seats.