NEW DELHI: The Nitish-Lalu led grand alliance has eventually cinched victory in the aggressive poll fight of Bihar. The results has been an eye-opener for the Narendra Modi led Government, who secured far less than the expected number of seats by the Exit Polls.
The Bharateya Janata Party led alliance has managed to secure only 58 seats with the BJP alone winning 54 seats, a poor performance by its allies too.
On the other hand, the grand alliance has easily crossed the magic figure in the 243 members assembly. Nitish kumar is expected to form the Bihar Government with the support of Lalu and his allies. The Nitish’s party has alone won 80 seats out of the 101 seats it has contested, while the Lalu’s party managed to secure 71 seats. The congress party has also stood at a good position compared to its previous election outings in Bihar.
The results questioned the growing opposition against the Narendra Modi government. It may be recalled that the Prime Minister himself has taken the election campaigning on his shoulders by addressing more than 30 rallies, making time for the aggressive Bihar polls.
Critics opined that the intolerance in the country has made the BJP government stand low in the election results. The returning of awards by the writers and the Dadri lynching incident took a toll against the BJP. Rising prices of various essential commodities can also be considered as a reason for the downfall of the BJP in the Bihar elections.
Speaking after the victory, Nitish Kumar said “It is the victory of the common man. People are disgusted with the intolerance in the country. It is a victory against the intolerance.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP party chief Amith Shah congratulated the grand alliance for their victory and called up on a meeting to discuss the reasons for BJP’s failure, the First Post reported.