Bihar Elections are over. NDA headed by Nitish Kumar is back in power. Grand Alliance did not win enough seats to come to power.
RJD emerged as the largest party with 75 seats. Congress got 19, CPI 12, CPI (M) 2, CPI (M-L) (L) 2, GA total 110 seats.
BJP got 74, JD(U) 43, HAM (S) 4, VIP (4), NDA total 125 seats.
AIMIM got 5 seats, BSP 1, LJP 1, Independent 1.
RJD and GA leader Tejashwi Yadav alleged Grand Alliance lost more than a dozen seats because of irregularities in postal vote counting. Election Commission claimed no irregularity in postal vote counting. Bihar Chief Electoral Officer H. R. Srinivas said, “The postal ballots were recounted, including those found invalid, and no discrepancy was found.”
Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said Congress candidate from Sakra had won by 700 votes but was declared defeated by 1,700 votes.
RJD and Congress members are free to go to court. Court decisions take time.
Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav sided with Tejashwi Yadav. He said, “The maximum public support was seen at Mahagathbandhan rallies and all the surveys hinted towards a historic victory for it. But, when the EVMs were opened for the counting of votes, the results were stopped midway and the victory certificates were handed to someone else.”
In 2015 RJD got 80 seats, Congress 27. This time RJD got 5 less, Congress 9 less. If they had maintained their numbers GA would have got majority.
Congress contested 70 seats. Its performance pulled down Grand Alliance. Communists did well. Congress lost all seats it contested in UP and Gujarat by-elections and won 9 out of 28 seats in MP. Akhilesh Yadav announced in 2022 UP elections SP will not have alliance with big parties meaning Congress and BSP. In 2017 SP had alliance with Congress. Congress contested 105 seats and won 7. Congress is seen as a liability. Tariq Anwar talked of introspection. Kapil Sibal said time for introspection is over.
AIMIM made debut in Bihar Legislative Assembly with 5 seats. In recent years it has contested outside Hyderabad. It had some success in Maharashtra. In 2015 it had failed in Bihar.
Bihar cabinet has two Deputy CMs and cabinet ministers from BJP, three cabinet ministers from JD(U), one from HAM (S) and one from VIP. Sushil Modi who was Deputy CM is out. There is talk of him becoming Rajya Sabha member and minister in central cabinet. He may get portfolios held by Ram Vilas Paswan. Many BJP leaders were not happy with Sushil Modi as they felt he was subservient to Nitish Kumar.
Chirag Paswan’s LJP got 1 seat. He had talked of defeating JD(U) and forming government under a BJP CM. He is happy that he succeeded in making many JD(U) candidates lose.
BJP central leaders had said Nitish Kumar will be CM whatever be the number of seats JD(U) gets. That has happened. However, many BJP leaders in Bihar don’t want Nitish Kumar as CM. They will bide their time to topple him.