After weeks of bitter campaigning, three phases of voting, over 15 hours of counting, and allegations of cheating, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) was announced as winner of the Bihar election in the (very) early hours of Wednesday. Boosted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rallies, the NDA eased past the majority mark of 122 in the 243-member Assembly. The BJP won 74 seats to emerge as the senior member in its alliance with Nitish Kumar’s JDU, which won just 43. The opposition, led by the RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav, put up a strong fight but eventually fell short. However, with 75 seats the RJD is the single-largest party. The Congress, viewed by many as the reason for the opposition’s failure to go all the way, contested 70 seats but won only 19. Chirag Paswan’s LJP, which was the source of much frustration for Nitish Kumar, won just one seat.
The ruling JDU-BJP touched the majority mark at around 3 AM after a closely-fought race. The BJP finished with 74 seats and the JDU 43. Two smaller members – former Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi’s Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular), and the Vikassheel Insaan Party – won four each. The BJP is now the big brother in its relationship with the JDU – something it has never been and which could impact the choice of Bihar’s next chief minister, with some in the party of the opinion that Nitish Kumar can no longer call the shots.
The opposition began the day well, surging into an early lead before being pegged back and overhauled by the NDA. Tejashwi Yadav, whose masterminding of the RJD’s campaign announced him as a worthy successor to his father Lalu Yadav’s throne, produced an impressive result for his party – with 75 seats, the RJD emerged as the single-largest party. By contrast the Congress, whom many have suggested is at fault for the opposition’s failure, flopped (again) and won just 19 of 70 seats; eight fewer than it managed in 2015. The three Left parties claimed 16 seats between them, with 12 going to the CPI (Marxist-Leninist).
Shortly before the results were confirmed, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah both tweeted and thanked the people of Bihar for “backing the NDA’s development agenda”. PM Modi said the NDA would “work for the balanced development of every person, every region” of the state. Mr Shah said: “Every section of Bihar has… backed the NDA’s development agenda” and added: “This is a win for the double-engine development of PM Modi and Nitish Kumar”.
Campaigning for the Bihar polls was fierce and unrelenting, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Nitish Kumar and Yogi Adityanath (his UP counterpart) and BJP President JP Nadda among the big names in action for the NDA. For the opposition, Tejashwi Yadav was often the sole voice in attack; Rahul Gandhi addressed a handful of rallies but nobody else from the Congress made an appearance in Bihar.
The election highlighted growing fissures in the JDU-BJP relationship. The apparent distancing triggered opposition barbs, with both Tejashwi Yadav and the LJP’s Chirag Paswan pouncing. The BJP’s handling of Mr Paswan further infuriated Mr Kumar; the LJP broke away from the NDA to contest independently and relentlessly targeted him. JDU leaders felt this was happening with the BJP’s tacit approval because Mr Paswan was seen as an effective counterweight to Nitish Kumar and a way to keep him in check.
