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(AP Photo/Ajit Solanki)
New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday conceded defeat in the Bihar elections.
“BJP lost only because of alliance arithmetic,” union minister Prakash Javadekar told the media.
BJP vice president Prabhat Jha added: “We failed to understand people’s mind. We will have to change our election strategy.”
(IANS)
Patna: The Grand Alliance on Sunday celebrated all across Bihar as its candidates forged ahead in more than half of the 243 seats, stunning the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Two-and-a-half hours into the vote count, trends from counting centres showed the JD-U camp was ahead in 135 seats – 13 more than the 122 needed to secure a majority in the assembly – while the BJP alliance was on the front in 92 seats.
Smaller parties, including the BSP and MIM, were on the winning track in nine constituencies.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal-United (JD-U) leaders claimed victory and said the JD-U and its two allies – the RJD and Congress – were confident of forming the government.
JD-U leader Sharad Yadav said the Grand Alliance would win about 150 seats. “It was a very tough fight, it was a straight fight.”
JD-U’s Pavan Verma added: “The Grand Alliance has moved towards victory. It is a defeat for (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi and (BJP president) Amit Shah. We will form a government with a clear majority.”
It was one of the most bitterly contested assembly election in recent times, with Modi personally taking charge of the BJP combine’s campaign, pitting himself against Chief Minister and JD-U leader Nitish Kumar and RJD leader Lalu Prasad.
When the final results are declared, it would be the BJP’s second straight defeat in assembly elections since it was routed by the Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi in February.
Early celebrations in the BJP office in New Delhi and Patna gave way to gloom as it became clear that the initial leads its candidates took proved to be a mirage, with the Grand Alliance members clawing back in the vote count.
“I congratulate the people of Bihar for voting for development. The credit goes to Modi’s and (BJP president) Amit Shah’s leadership,” BJP spokesman Kailash Vijayvargiya told the media earlier.
Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad too said earlier: “We will win with very conclusive majority. People of Bihar need change.”
BJP leaders ordered a huge quantity of sweets, saying they were sure of a victory. In no time, the atmosphere became sombre in the BJP office here.
BJP candidates were leading in 74 seats, former chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi’s Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) in four, the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) of Ramvilas Paswan in nine and the Rashtriya Lok Sama Party (RLSP) in five seats each.
In the Grand Alliance, the JD-U was ahead in 64 seats, the RJD in 55 and the Congress in 12 seats. The RJD and the JD-U fielded 101 candidates each and the Congress 41.
The BJP contested 160 seats and its allies the LJP 40, the RLSP 23 and the HAM 20 seats.
The bitterly contested five-phase electoral battle began on October 12 and ended on November 5.
(IANS)
New Delhi: Bihar’s bitterly-contested staggered elections ended on Thursday evening, with exit polls sharply split on who would get to rule the state: the BJP-led alliance led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi or Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s Grand Alliance.
While three of the nine surveys at the end of five rounds of polling predicted a clear win for the Bharatiya Janata Party and another gave an upper hand to it, five exit polls forecast a narrow or clear majority in the 243-member house to the Grand Alliance.
Despite the exit poll suspense, leaders of both the BJP and the Grand Alliance — the Janata Dal-United (JD-U) of Nitish Kumar and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) of Lalu Prasad — claimed they were sure of victory.
“We are hopeful of getting a clear majority,” said BJP spokesman Nalin Kohli. “Although the (exit polls) ranges are close, I won’t arrive at any hasty assessment,” he said, indicating cautious optimism in the BJP.
Former chief minister Lalu Prasad, however, insisted that the Grand Alliance, which also includes the Congress, was poised to win 190 seats.
“The entire backward community of Bihar has voted for us,” he told the media in Patna. “We salute them for this.”
None of the exit polls, however, gave either alliance such a huge victory as claimed by Lalu Prasad.
While Today’s Chanakya gave 155 of the 243 seats to the BJP and its three allies, NewsX-CNX said the JD-U and its allies would get 135 seats. It forecast a mere 83 seats to the JD-U, the RJD and the Congress.
In contrast, NewsX said the BJP and its allies — the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), the Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) and the Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP) — would win only 95 seats.
Other exit polls predicted a close outcome.
Any party or combine would need 122 seats to secure a wafer thin majority in the 243-member assembly. The millions of votes polled in the five rounds of polling from October 12 — about 60 percent of the 66.8 million electorate voted — will be counted on Sunday.
An India Today-Cicero exit poll predicted a hung assembly, with the BJP-led alliance winning 120 seats to 117 by the Grand Alliance. It gave the BJP alliance 113-127 seats and the Grand Alliance 111-123 seats. Four to eight seats could go to other parties.
A Dainik Jagran exit poll said the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) would get a majority with 130 seats as compared to 97 for the Grand Alliance.
The Times Now-CVoter survey gave 122 seats to the Grand Alliance and 111 to the NDA.
The ABP News gave the BJP and its allies 130 seats compared to 108 to the JD-U-RJD-Congress alliance.
News Nation also gave the JD-U and its allies an edge, with 120-124 seats, while the BJP and its allies could get 115-119 seats.
India TV-C Voter also predicted 111 seats to the BJP combine and 122 to the Grand Alliance.
Even before the exit polls were telecast, JD-U spokesman K.C. Tyagi told IANS in Patna that the Grand Alliance was confident of winning a “stupendous mandate”.
Neither Modi or BJP president Amit Shah — who micro-managed the Bihar election — nor Nitish Kumar spoke to the media.
Earlier on Thursday, nearly 60 percent of the 1.55 crore electorate turned out to vote in the last of the 57 constituencies spread across seven districts: Kishangaj, Purnea, Araria, Katihar, Saharasa, Madhepura and Supaul.
Despite widespread apprehensions, the staggered election passed off peacefully, even in areas considered to be strongholds of Maoists who had called for an election boycott.
The voter enthusiasm was evident on Thursday too, with tens of thousands queuing up at polling booths even before they opened at 7 a.m. A total of 827 candidates were in the fray.
Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi’s Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) contested from six constituencies, making its foray into Bihar.
Earlier on Thursday, the stock market dipped over a possible lack of clear mandate in Bihar.
The Bihar election is a big test for the BJP, whose winning streak since the 2014 Lok Sabha polls was halted by the Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi in February this year.
(IANS)
Patna: Displaying a picture of unity, JD(U), RJD and Congress today announced formation of a grand secular alliance and seat sharing among the three parties for the coming Bihar elections.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar announced coming into being of the grand secular alliance and seat sharing among the three parties in presence of RJD President Lalu Prasad and Congress General Secretary and in-charge of Bihar affairs C P Joshi at a joint press conference.
As part of the tie-up, JD(U) and RJD would contest 100 seats each while Congress would fight in 40 seats. In the 243-member Bihar Assembly, the alliance was yet to announce who would contest in the rest three seats.
Nitish Kumar told reporters that the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has been with them in the recent election for Legislative Council 24 seats and they would like it to be with them in the Bihar poll. Kumar indicated the three seats would be given to Sharad Pawar’s NCP if they join the combine.
In reply to a question that Samajwadi Party whose leader Mulayam Singh Yadav is heading Janata Parivar, had not got any seat, Prasad answered “he is my Samdhi (relative) and if need be I will accommodate him.”
Kumar said the grand secular alliance would have a Common Minimum Programme and all constituents would hold joint campaign for the crucial state election in September-October. “The first rally of the grand secular alliance would be held in Patna on August 30,” Kumar and Lalu Prasad said.
The RJD President indicated that the decision to fight on 100 seats only was a compromise for a cause.
“Inspite of all difference his party has come to the conclusion that to keep the communal and fascist forces away, it has to move ahead by accommodating others,” Prasad told reporters.
Congress General Secretary and former Union minister C P Joshi said his party has entered the secular alliance as a constituent because it thinks “today Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the biggest threat to the country.”
Asked if Congress President Sonia Gandhi or Vice President Rahul Gandhi would be present during August 30 rally or in future programme of the alliance, Joshi was evasive.
“These are part of strategy which we will let the media know through separate press conference later on,” Joshi accompanied by state Congress President Ashok Choudhary said.
With secular alliance facing several doubtful questions on possibility of return of ‘jungle raj’ (euphemism to describe RJD’s 15 year rule marked by bad law and order), Prasad volunteered to answer majority of the uncomfortable questions all the while taking potshots at BJP.
All the three constituents of the grand secular alliance have scaled down from the number of seats they had contested in last Bihar election in 2010, though not together.
JD(U), which was in alliance with BJP in 2010 poll, had contested on 141 seats and won 115. BJP, which had contested in 102 seats with Nitish Kumar, had cornered 91 seats.
RJD had fielded candidates in 168 seats and managed to win only 22. Congress had gone in the 2010 poll alone and could win only four seats.
In 2014 Parliamentary election, RJD, Congress and NCP had contested together and managed to win seven seats together out of a total of 40 seats. JD(U) which had gone in general election with Left parties was decimated and managed to win only two seats.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Vice President Rahul Gandhi have been reluctant to share dais in the last Parliamentary elections with Lalu Prasad, who has been convicted by a Ranchi CBI Court in a fodder scam case and has been debarred to fight elections.
When grilled by the mediapersons as to why he was not answering whether Sonia Gandhi or Rahul Gandhi would share dais with other grand secular alliance leaders, Joshi reiterated that it was part of strategy of the party which would be announced later on.
With flash bulbs popping frequently, Prasad in a bid to silence BJP, said, “today they must have got answer to all the questions they have been posing to show cracks in his coming together with Nitish Kumar in a bid to confuse voters and scare away upper castes from us.”
Taking a potshot at BJP, the RJD President said, “demolition of Babri mosque and Gujarat riots were examples of ‘mangal raj’ and when I gave voice to poor during RJD rule it is dubbed as ‘jungle raj’.”
He said a few “well wishers” of Nitish Kumar also posed to him every now and then about guarantee that ‘jungle raj’ would not return and how we two would remain together. “Those peoples are ‘nadaan’ (innocents). You will see how we will continue to bond together in future,” Prasad said. “BJP is trying to spread doubts about us but they will not succeed. We are together and remain together,” he said.
(PTI)
Patna: Bihar will witness the biggest political realignment of the decade ahead of the assembly polls in 2015 with likely merger of Lalu Prasad’s Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the ruling Janata Dal-United to counter the surging BJP.
“After results of Haryana and Maharashtra assembly polls, Lalu Prasad and JD-U president Sharad Yadav and former chief minister Nitish Kumar have agreed in principle to merge the two parties to take on the BJP,” a RJD leader close to Lalu Prasad said Monday.
This development has come nearly four months after Lalu Prasad and Nitish Kumar joined hands in Bihar and 10 days after leaders of the Samajwadi Party, the JD-U, the RJD and the Janata Dal-Secular announced a united front to counter the Narendra Modi government at the Centre.
A JD-U leader said: “Merger of the RJD and the JD-U is on cards to strengthen secular forces…”
He said none other than Nitish Kumar himself said that “we resolved to work together and in the near future there is a strong possibility we might merge and form one party”.
According to the JD-U and the RJD leaders here, if both parties contest next state assembly polls as an alliance, there will be serious problem of seat sharing.
The JD-U, which has 118 legislators in the house, will bargain for more seats and the RJD, which has 23 legislators, will put its claim for more seats on the basis of its performance in the last Lok Sabha polls.
In August, Lalu Prasad and Nitish Kumar jointly campaigned during the by-elections in Bihar. The JD-U, the RJD and the Congress won six of the 10 assembly seats.
That was the first time the two leaders came together after a gap of 20 years. It was in the 1991 Lok Sabha polls that Lalu Prasad and Nitish Kumar last campaigned together.
Lalu Prasad then said he and Nitish Kumar wanted to send a strong message across the country to unite non-BJP forces.
Nitish Kumar, who quit as Bihar’s chief minister in May after his party was routed in the general elections, has been repeatedly targeting Modi.
He said Modi has failed to bring back black money stashed abroad by Indians within 100 days of taking power.
In a bid to expose Modi’s double speak, Nitish Kumar said: “Modi had promised to bring back black money after being elected to power. But he has failed to do that even after 150 days.”
The JD-U ended a 17-year alliance with the BJP last year after Modi was declared the prime ministerial candidate of the party.