What went wrong with Oppn INDIA bloc in Bihar

Cong posts second worst show in Bihar’s history, Rahul's ‘vote chori’ pitch falls flat

- MPOST BUREAU

For the Opposition, Bihar Assembly election results turned out to be nothing less than a disaster.

The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) of Tejashwi Yadav, which had emerged as the single-largest party in 2020, was swept away by the NDA wave on Friday, losing more than half its seats and winning just 25 seats.

The Congress with six seats was not even in the reckoning and came out as the Mahagathbandhan’ weakest link. Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraaj Party, touted by some as a possible disruptor, failed to make any electoral dent. Most of its candidates are likely to forfeit their deposits. Once a celebrated strategist for several political parties, his leadership in Bihar proved to be a major setback.

Though the Exit polls had predicted NDA victory, the extent of the sweep, with both BJP and JD(U) registering massive gains, exceeded most projections. With the BJP outperforming its ally Janata Dal (U), the next big question remains on its emergence as a more assertive partner.

For the NDA whose star campaigners, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, repeatedly resurrected the memories of the 'jungle raj' during RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav's term came to haunt him and his family, associated with the fodder scam cases and the landfor-jobs scandal.

PM Modi harped upon the "jungle raj ka yuvraj" narrative while referring to Tejashwi to attack the RJD over lawlessness as well as dynastic politics.

Tejashwi Yadav, who was named as the chief ministerial candidate of the opposition INDIA bloc, made promises like 200 free units of power. Nitish Kumar, once a vocal critic of "freebies", did a volte face and announced 125 units of free power every month which helped offset the public anger that was building up in the wake of "prepaid meters", which were being blamed for inflated bills.