After Nitish Kumar’s 'historic victory', congratulatory messages pour in

New Delhi/Srinagar/Patna/Chennai: Prime Minister Narendra Modi called up JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar on Sunday and congratulated him on victory in the Bihar Assembly polls.

"Had a telephone conversation with Shri @nitishkumar & congratulated him on the victory," Modi tweeted as the mahaghatbhandhan of JD(U), RJD and Congress surged towards a convincing victory in the elections.

Immediately thereafter, Kumar tweeted, "Just received a phone call from the Prime Minister congratulating me...thank you Modiji."

In a reversal of early trends, the JD(U)-led grand alliance shot ahead of NDA, taking a lead in more than 140 seats, which is well above the half-way mark in the 243-member Bihar Assembly.

Kumar, the two-time Chief Minister of Bihar, is set to take charge of the state for the third time after today's win.

Having backed Nitish Kumar in the high-stakes poll contest, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal congratulated the JD(U) leader for his "historic victory" as trends showed the grand alliance surging ahead of the BJP-led NDA in Bihar.

"Many congratulations Nitishji on this historic victory," Kejriwal said in a post in Hindi on Twitter.

Kejriwal had earlier said it was important that BJP lost the Assembly elections in Bihar so that it realises that "hate politics" will not work in the country.

"It is important that BJP lose Bihar so that they know that hate politics will not work in this country. People want love and peace, not hate," he had said on Twitter.

Also, reiterating his support for his Bihar counterpart Nitish Kumar, Kejriwal had urged people in the state to vote for him.

"I appeal to all to call up their relatives and friends in Bihar and ask them to vote for Nitish Kumar," he had said on the micro-blogging site.

National Conference leader Omar Abdullah also congratulated Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on the victory, saying the election was turned into a referendum on the Narendra Modi government by BJP itself.

"Heartiest congratulations on a well deserved victory @NitishKumar sahib. Your victory will prove critical for the nation in the days ahead," Omar wrote on social networking site twitter.com.

"It was the BJP, not Nitish, that made this election a referendum on the Modi Govt. They have to live with the results, win or lose," the former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister said.

Omar sarcastically said if BJP would have won, the victory would have belonged to the leader but the blame for the loss would be borne by the party.

"Always remember victory belongs to the leader, defeat to the party. Simple rule of thumb & all parties, bar none, fall back on this," he said.

On trends that initially showed the BJP-led combine ahead of the grand alliance, Omar said, "The BJP needs to get a refund from some news channels for crackers wasted this morning." 

Congratulating Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee termed the results of Bihar elections as defeat of "intolerance".

"Congratulations @NitishKumar ji, Lalu ji & your full team. And all my Bihar brothers & sisters. Victory of tolerance, defeat of intolerance," Mamata wrote on Twitter.

Ahead of the third phase of the elections in Bihar, she had also appealed to voters to support Nitish Kumar and re-elect him as Chief Minister.

Sulking BJP MP Shatrughan Sinha termed the grand alliance's victory in Bihar polls as "victory of democracy" and took a swipe at the top party brass, saying the issue of "Bihari versus Bahri" has been settled once and for all.

"Congratulations to Laluji & Nitishji for this victory in Bihar elections. We bow before people's mandate. It is the victory of democracy and the people of Bihar. I salute them. It appears that the issue of Bihari vs Bahari (and Bihari Babu's absence) has been settled once and for all," he said in tweets.

Once among the BJP's star campaigners, Sinha has been sidelined by the party leadership. He has often taken potshots at the party for the way it has conducted the campaign in Bihar.

Kumar had made "Bihari vs Bahri" one of his main campaign themes, terming Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah, two most prominent NDA campaigners, as outsiders as he asked people to choose him, a Bihari.

"The call of the day is introspection, modified and better strategy, teamwork and coordination in the future. Salute once again to Biharis," Sinha, BJP MP from Patna Sahib, advised the party leadership in another tweet.

Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi termed the Bihar poll results as a "victory of unity over divisiveness" and congratulated Nitish Kumar and Lalu on the win.

"Congratulations to the people of Bihar, to Nitishji, to Laluji, to the Congress leaders & karyakartas & the Mahagathbandhan on this victory.”

"This is a victory of unity over divisiveness. Humility over arrogance. Love over hate. A victory of the people of Bihar," he said in a series of tweets.

DMK President M Karunanidhi congratulated Nitish Kumar, saying the victory was "expected" as people of the state had voted for his "developmental achievements".

"Kindly accept my hearty congratulations on your landslide victory, as expected. People of Bihar have voted for good governance, for your developmental achievements in economic sphere and for your steadfast commitment to social justice", he said in his message to Kumar.

"I convey my best wishes to you and your grand alliance", he said.

Meanwhile, Nitish Kumar also thanked Congress president Sonia Gandhi after they called to congratulate him on putting the JD(U)-led grand alliance on the road to victory in the assembly polls.

"Just received a phone call from the Prime Minister congratulating me..@narendramodi thank you Modiji," he said in a series of tweets.

He also thanked West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. "Thank you Sonia Ji for your congratulatory phone call," he said.

"@MamataOfficial thank you Mamata Ji," he said in another tweet.

Shiv Sena supremo Uddhav Thackery also called Nitish Kumar and congratulated him for his resounding success. "Uddhavji telephoned Nitish Kumar on Bihar win, congratulated him and called it a victory of his leadership qualities," said a Sena leader quoting Uddhav.

"You worked a lot and did good job to convince the voters and this is why people of Bihar expressed their faith and mandated you once more to govern," the Sena chief said.

Uddhav also conveyed Diwali greetings in advance and wished Nitish Kumar to run a smooth government in Bihar that would pave the way for development in the state.

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