Bihar polls: Nitish Kumar leads saffron splash across state
Bihar polls: Nitish Kumar leads saffron splash across state
Patna:Nitish Kumar-led JD(U)-BJP alliance on Wednesday appeared set to score a landslide two-thirds victory in the Assembly elections in Bihar with the ruling combine surging ahead in 174 of the 240 seats for which trends were available.
JD(U) is ahead in 98 seats while its partner BJP is leading in 76 seats in the elections to the 243-member House while Opposition RJD-LJP alliance was way behind at 45 seats.
Congress, which went alone in the elections, was leading in five constituencies. Others are ahead in 15 seats.
The emphatic mandate for Nitish Kumar declares that Bihar has finally transcended its caste politics and voted for an administration that provided good governance.
Senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley said Bihar has voted to change its future. He said Nitish and his deputy Sushil Kumar Modi gave people hope; their work washed away the fear and despair the people had felt during the previous reigns.
When the alliance won in 2005, people dismissed it as a negative vote perpetuated by the anger the electorate felt towards the last regime. It is a positive vote this term, he said. Jaitley also took a dig at the Congress party which has fared dismally these elections. Today's victory is a message to national politics. Today's victory says meritorious leadership has triumphed over dynastic politics the kind that depends on family glamour, he said.
Surprisingly, the BJP has made phenomenal strides in the NDA alliance by being up in nearly 27 seats almost 50 per cent up from last time. This also indicates that BJP has done better than JD(U) this term. The BJP, in fact, has swept urban Bihar.
"There is a new hope for Bihar. It reaffirms many political myths will go underground. The biggest myth is a Congress resurgence. Congress is no longer relevant in any part of the country," BJP spokesperson Prakash Javedekar said
The counting of votes for all 243 Assembly constituencies began this morning amid tight security.
Counting for the Banka parliamentary constituency, where a by-election was held, began simultaneously at 8 am.
Counting has been taken up in 42 centres, mostly in the district headquarters towns, where central paramilitary forces have been deployed.
A total of 3,523 candidates have been in fray including 1,342 Independents.
In the outgoing House, the ruling parties JD(U) and BJP have 88 and 55 seats respectively. RJD and Ram Vilas Paswan's LJP have 54 and 10 respectively. Congress has 9 seats. 122 is the magic figure required for any coalition or party to form a government.
