Bihar election 2020: Tejashwi Yadav had held over two dozen rallies for the Rashtriya Janata Dal
Patna:
The Rashtriya Janata Dal — which most exit polls predicted will gain majority in the just-concluded assembly elections in Bihar — has warned its workers and supporters to maintain discipline on the counting day, whatever the outcome of the election. In a tweet today, the party said there should be no use of firecrackers or rowdy behaviour and civility must be maintained towards the rival parties.
“On November 10, counting of votes will take place. Whatever be the result, we have to behave well, maintain peace. No worker should use colours, firecrackers etc. There should not be any indiscipline in the excitement of a victory,” read a rough translation of the party’s tweet in Hindi.
In a second tweet, the RJD asked its workers to keep in mind that irrespective of the results “at the centre of your politics is public upliftment and people’s convenience”.
The cautionary note from the party comes in the wake of the campaign by the ruling alliance of Nitish Kumar and the BJP, which has kept the spotlight on the law and order issues during the 15-year tenure of Tejashwi Yadav’s parents — Lalu Yadav and Rabri Devi.
Lalu Yadav is in jail after being found guilty in a huge corruption case that involved irregularities in the purchase of animal fodder.
Through the NDA campaign, multiple references have been made of the “Jungle Raj” — people were warned against it and told to expect it if the RJD comes to power.
Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi had dubbed Tejashwi Yadav — the 31-year-old Chief Ministerial candidate of the RJD, Congress and Left alliance — as “Jungle Raj ka Yuvraj”.
Yesterday, most opinion polls predicted that the alliance will get majority in the state, remaining way ahead of the NDA.
An aggregate of opinion polls indicated that the opposition coalition will win 128 of Bihar’s 243 seats and the NDA, 99. Chirag Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party or LJP is likely to win six seats, the math indicated.
The majority mark in the state stands at 122.
Exit polls, though, often get it wrong.
RJD spokesman Mrityunjay Tiwari said the party’s own assessment based on ground-level information is that it will win more seats than predicted in exit polls. “There is a wave in support of Mahagathbandhan and Tejashwi Yadav. We will win with a two-thirds majority,” he was quoted as saying by news agency Press Trust of India.
