The Bihar BJP president Sanjay Jaiswal on Wednesday credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi's welfare policies for the ruling NDA's win in the assembly polls and said all anti-incumbency claims have been negated by the mandate for a fourth term to the Nitish Kumar government. A day after the BJP-JD(U) alliance won assembly polls in Bihar, the BJP's general secretary and the state in-charge Bhupender Yadav on Wednesday said the NDA was cheated by its former member LJP of Chirag Paswan in the elections and the confusion created by them caused some losses. There is no question of replacing Nitish Kumar as chief minister of Bihar, the BJP said Wednesday, a day after it one-upped its ally for the first time in elections in the state, reports NDTV. The BJP won 74 of Bihar's 243 seats, taking the NDA's tally past the majority mark, while Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal United was restricted to 43. A stellar performance by the BJP enabled the ruling NDA to attain a simple majority in the Bihar assembly notwithstanding a sharp fall in the tally of the JD(U), according to final results announced early Wednesday. The saffron party, which had contested 110 seats, won 74 while the JD(U) which fought 115, won only 43 seats. The NDA has officially won the Bihar polls with the Election Commission website declaring its win in 122 seats. The alliance is leading in all of the final three seats, NDA managed to secure 125 seats, above the halfway mark of 122 needed to form the government in the state, despite a close contest fought by RJD-lead Mahagathbandhan. The RJD secured 75 seats, giving the BJP-JDU partnership a tough fight through the day. It also won the highest vote share at 23.1% so far. The Bharatiya Janata Party has finally declared its win on Twitter. Prime Minister Modi congratulated the alliance partners and BJP cadre for winning the people's trust while Home Minister Amit Shah expressed gratitude to voters for choosing the NDA's politics of development. A lackluster show by the Congress in Bihar seems to have proved costly for the opposition grand alliance, as it dragged down the RJD too from the government formation in the Hindi heartland state. While the Congress lost ground in Bihar, it also suffered significant electoral losses in Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat, losing a majority of bypolls in key states that saw the BJP surging ahead. Questions will be raised in the Congress on candidates' selection and campaign. If Rahul Gandhi's addressed lesser number of rallies than a much busier Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the party's ‘other star', Priyanka Gandhi didn't even venture out in a campaign managed by Team Rahul functionaries after sideling Bihar Congress leaders. "We were hoping for a much better show for the alliance. While we were hoping JDU will drop many more seats, the Congress did make things easy for NDA, though we are still fighting to make it," said CPIML general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya. In Madhya Pradesh, the BJP routed Congress in 19 of the 27 bypolls, necessitated by defection of Congress MLAs. The elections saw Kamal Nath slugging it out with the backing of Digvijaya Singh and other state leaders while the Gandhis kept away from the line of fire. In Uttar Pradesh, all Congress candidates lost bypolls, which saw BJP winning six and SP one seat. The Congress' projected consolation was in coming second in seats where the Priyanka Gandhi-led state team made much noise during the Hathras incident and over migrant plight during lockdown. BSP's meltdown appears to have helped SP more than the Congress. In Gujarat, the Congress lost all eight seats where elections were held after its MLAs quit. The outcome also showcased the divide in the party unit over elevation of Hardik Patel as PCC working president, where the internal issues are volatile over appointment of inexperienced leaders to top organizational posts. The defeat of Congress in two Karnataka bypolls too confirmed the slide. The party managed to win a seat each in Chhattisgarh and Haryana. — Agencies
