BJP says Nitish will remain CM of Bihar
Even as BJP emerges senior partner in alliance, party says will stick to pre-poll agreement
Even as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) emerged the senior partner in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), the party on Wednesday reiterated its stand that Janata Dal (United) chief Nitish Kumar will remain the chief minister of the state.
The BJP won 74 constituencies and the JD(U) 43 in the assembly election results announced late on Tuesday night, and together with Jitan Ram Manjhi’s Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) Mukesh Sahani’s Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) with three and four seats, respectively, the NDA returned to power in Bihar with 125 seats, just three more than the majority mark.
The closely fought election saw the Tejashwi Yadav-led Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) run an energetic campaign and emerge as the single largest party with 75 seats in the 243member assembly. But its wider alliance, the Mahagatbandhan (MGB), failed to become the largest pre-poll formation, with the Congress winning only 19 of the 70 seats it contested, though the Left forces put up their best performance in the state in the last twoand-a-half decades, with 16 seats. In all, the alliance won 111 seats.
Bihar BJP president Sanjay Jaiswal on Wednesday, while crediting Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s welfare policies for the ruling NDA’s win in the assembly polls, said all anti-incumbency claims have been negated by the mandate for a fourth term to the Nitish Kumar government.
He also made it clear that Kumar will continue to head the NDA government in Bihar and asserted that the gap between the number of seats of BJP and JD(U) will have no impact on the ruling alliance dynamics in the state.
“Certainly, 100%,” Jaiswal told news agency PTI when asked whether Kumar will remain the chief minister. “We are allies and equals. We have to run Bihar collectively.”
Bihar deputy chief minister and BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi also clarified that Kumar will remain the chief minister of one of India’s most populous state. “Nitish Kumar will remain the chief minister, that was our commitment,” he told news channel NDTV.
Addressing BJP workers in the national capital, PM Modi hailed the successful conduct of assembly polls in Bihar and praised the Election Commission of India (EC), security forces and administration. “Poll
The Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) contesting the Bihar elections outside the fold of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) was the biggest X-factor in these elections, though the party has won a solitary seat in the elections.
On the campaign trail, the LJP’s main attack was focused on the Janata Dal (United) -- so much so that it kept talking about forming a government with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after the results, stressing on how it was still part of the NDA at the Centre and leader Chirag Paswan kept criticising chief minister Nitish Kumar while praising the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
This talk of being a part of government formation has little meaning now -- the NDA has managed a simple majority of 125 in the assembly, and the LJP has won just one seat.
The LJP has managed to improve its vote share from 4.8% to 5.7% between 2015 and 2020 assembly elections, largely a function of the fact that it contested in 135 assembly constituencies (ACs) this time, compared to just 42 in 2015.
However, this is the LJP’s worst performance in terms of seats, and in keeping with the trend of its growing marginalisation in the state’s politics. (See Chart)
But an HT analysis of the LJP’s performance shows that its candidates played the role of a spoiler in 64 assembly constituencies (ACs). Candidates are defined as spoilers if they are ranked third or below, and get more votes than the victory margin in a constituency.
The biggest sufferer of the LJP in these elections was the JD(U), which lost elections in 27 ACs where the LJP was a spoiler.
The LJP also has acted as a spoiler in 17 ACs for the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), 11 for the Congress, 4 for the Vikassheel Insan Party (VIP), 3 for the Communist Party of India Marxist Leninist (Liberation), and one for the BJP.