Bihar results: Nitish's alliance set to form Govt, Lalu makes grand comeback

Patna: The JD(U)-led grand alliance decimated Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s NDA in the Bihar elections on Sunday, sending out a clear message that the language of development must be clean and not interspersed with metaphors of divisiveness.

The alliance, led by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, is all set to get two-thirds majority in the 243-member Assembly and may even notch up 180-odd seats. A win for the grand alliance will strengthen Nitish politically and he might well emerge as an anti-BJP force at the national level. On the rival side, the NDA alliance of the BJP, the Lok Janshakti Party, the RLSP and the HAM is looking to get near 60 seats.

The latest tally shows Grand Alliance partner JD(U) won 54 seats, while its ally RJD won on 52 and Congress 20, according to Election Commission of India data. The trends on rest 72 seats show RJD is ahead on 28 seats, JD(U) on 17 and Congress 7. This means, the RJD may emerge as the single largest party in the Bihar elections.

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"Had a telephone conversation with Shri @NitishKumar & congratulated him on the victory," Modi said on Twitter of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

Modi turned the Bihar poll into a key test of his popularity, addressing some 30 campaign rallies and promising voters billions for development.

The premier's defeat was also a setback to his plans to push major economic reforms through Parliament where the BJP lacks a majority in the Upper House.

In the last assembly polls in 2010, the JDU had won 115 seats while BJP won in 91 when both parties had an alliance. RJD had got 24 and Congress 5, contesting separately.

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As the contest tightened in recent weeks, the campaign shifted to bitter issues along religious and caste lines which have traditionally dominated Bihar.     

BJP spokesman GVL Narsimha Rao denied the loss was a personal blow for Modi, saying the odds were stacked against their party after regional rivals joined forces.

"This election was loaded against us. It is a defeat of the arithmetic," Rao told India Today TV.

"Our PM has delivered even in this election. It is because of his appeal that we managed a creditable performance," Rao said.

The BJP needed a win after suffering a humiliating defeat in February elections for the New Delhi state Assembly to the fledgling anti-corruption party AAP.

But exit polls released last week showed the parties running neck and neck, after voting ended on Thursday in the election held in five phases over a month.

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Modi stormed to power in May last year promising sweeping reforms to revive the faltering economy. While growth is now purring along at around seven percent, complaints have been mounting about Modi's failure to nail down major reforms to boost investment and help create jobs for tens of millions of young people.

Some observers say Modi has put off pushing through contentious reforms ahead of the Bihar and other state polls for fear of losing votes, such as the land acquisition bill to make it easier for firms to buy farmland.

The Bihar campaign has been dogged by religious tensions. Analysts said Muslims, who make up 16 percent of Bihar's population, voted against the BJP, along with lower castes in India's age-old social hierarchy, who sided with traditional allies Kumar and Yadav. 

The BJP's Parliamentary Board is likely to meet tomorrow to analyse the poll results in Bihar where the JD(U)-RJD combine has outshone the party-led NDA. According to sources, the board is likely to examine all factors leading to the party's below-par performance against the Nitish Kumar-led grand alliance. Party leader and Union Minister Ram Kripal Yadav said it was for the top brass to analyse and introspect the reasons behind these results.

Ahead of counting, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his political partner Lalu Prasad Yadav exuded confidence that they would pull through. "I am not nervous at all since I have done this many times," said Nitish, while Lalu Prasad beamed a "Good Morning, We are winning" to reporters, saying he had "had a very good night's sleep". The usual political banter continued from the other side with one BJP leader quipping whether Lalu should not say a "Good Night".

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Votes were locked in 62,780 EVMs with 14,580 officials on duty for the counting process in Patna and other districts, officials said. The fate of 3,450 candidates, including 272 women, will be decided during the day. The five-phase elections started on October 12 and ended on November 5.

The BJP banked on its usual agenda of youth and development though the bitter campaign this past month has also brought up mandal, kamandal, beef, reservation, Pakistan crackers and DNA. 

The speed and virulence with which the mud flew during campaigning meant no side was ready to leave anything to chance.

The BJP was also on tenterhooks on whether its partners Upendra Kushwaha's RLSP and Jitan Ram Manjhi's Hindustan Awami Morcha would be able to pull their weight. They didn't.

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