Impact of Bihar Election Results: PM’s ability to swing state elections has been reinforced (File photo)
New Delhi:
The ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) appeared headed for a win in Bihar today as votes were counted in the first major election held in the shadow of the coronavirus. The NDA, defying multiple exit polls, sailed past the majority mark and the BJP was even the largest party at one point in a state where it has always been junior partner. However, the opposition alliance led by Tejashwi Yadav put up a strong fight, emerging as the largest party after 10 hours of counting. The unexpected surge for the NDA, despite Nitish Kumar facing anti-incumbency after three straight terms, has been attributed by the BJP to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s campaign.
What the results mean for national politics:
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The Prime Minister’s ability to swing state elections has been reinforced in a key state that has 40 Lok Sabha seats, of which the BJP won 39 in last year’s national election.
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The BJP is now stronger in Bihar even without a strong leadership in the state. In Bihar, its seniormost leader is Sushil Kumar Modi, who shares a good rapport with Nitish Kumar.
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With Bihar, the BJP has the chance to end a dry phase in which it suffered a series of state losses to different coalitions. For example in Maharashtra, where an unlikely partnership between its former partner Shiv Sena and the NCP and Congress stopped the BJP coming to power.
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The results today in bypolls held across a dozen states also favoured the BJP, which is seen as a measure of PM Modi’s winnability.
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While Tejashwi failed to turn the huge crowds attending his rallies into landslide, the 31-year-old has established himself as a key state leader in his own right. He has managed to push Nitish Kumar to third place. But giving the Congress 70 seats to contest may have been his biggest miscalculation.
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The Congress this time contested more seats than in 2015 but ended up with far less. That has prompted its critics to once again label it a liability with few leaders to match PM Modi’s appeal and vote-winning ways.
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Congress’s only star campaigner was Rahul Gandhi, none of the other Gandhis – his mother Sonia and sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra – travelled to Bihar.
