In a verdict that is bound to have a national impact, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and RJD leader Lalu Prasad on Sunday trounced the BJP to win the bitterly fought Bihar assembly polls and deliver a major blow to Prime Minister Narendra Modi who led his party’s challenge.
In contrast to what most exit polls had said, the Grand Alliance of the Janata Dal-United (JD-U), the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Congress won a whopping 178 of the 243 seats, leaving the BJP -- which wanted to oust Nitish Kumar -- and its allies with just 58 seats.
The RJD and JD-U ended up winning 80 and 71 seats each and the Congress 27. The BJP was the winner in 53 constituencies, and three allies -- the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), the Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) and the Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP) -- could together bag only five seats (2, 1, 2 respectively).
The Communist Party of India-Marxist-Leninist-Liberation had won three seats and Independents four.
The much-maligned Lalu Prasad’s RJD ended up as the single biggest party.
"This is a very big victory. We accept it with humility," Nitish Kumar said in his first comments. "From the national perspective, the result is significant."
Lalu Prasad, who the BJP targeted more viciously during the election campaign, was more emphatic. He called Modi “a RSS pracharak” and vowed to mount a nationwide campaign against the BJP-led central government.
Lalu Prasad also made it clear that although his party had more seats than the JD-U, Nitish Kumar would be the chief minister.
A sombre Modi telephoned Nitish Kumar and congratulated him. So did a stream of opposition leaders from across the country, indicating that the ramifications of the Bihar outcome was already being felt.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said the BJP's defeat was a "victory of tolerance, defeat of intolerance".
Delhi Chief Minister and AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal hailed Nitish Kumar on "this historic victory". Kejriwal also said the BJP-led coalition's defeat was a referendum on Modi's "work and working style". He added: "The results prove that people do not approve of the politics of hatred."
The CPI-M said the state's people have ushered in their own 'acche din'. "The main message of the Bihar verdict is people are not going to tolerate any attack on the country's social fabric and secular tradition," party general secretary Sitaram Yechuri told media persons in Kolkata.
The Shiv Sena, the BJP’s junior but bitter ally in Maharashtra, said the BJP must accept that the defeat was Modi's doing. Calling Nitish Kumar "a political hero", it said the Bihar result "will be a turning point in the country's political future".
Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah too said that the verdict “will prove critical for the nation in the days ahead".
Even as former BJP deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi said his party would be “a constructive opposition”, Bollywood veteran and BJP MP Shatrughan Sinha -- unhappy over being sidelined by party president Amit Shah -- called the BJP defeat “a victory for democracy and the people of Bihar... The writing was always on the wall".
The BJP conceded defeat. "This is not an outcome we expected," its general secretary Ram Madhav said. "This defeat calls for serious thinking."
Union minister Prakash Javadekar blamed the defeat on BJP's "alliance arithmetic". Its vice president Prabhat Jha said: "We failed to understand people's mind. We will have to change our election strategy."
Compared to the number of assembly segments it led in the 2014 Lok Sabha election, the BJP lost every second seat.
JD-U's Pavan Verma targeted Modi. "It is a defeat for Modi and (BJP president) Amit Shah." MIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi, whose MIM contested six seats and lost all, also said: "It is a personal defeat for Modi as never before has a prime minister campaigned so much in a (state) election."
The JD-U, the RJD and the Congress grabbed over 41 percent of all the votes in the five-phased ections that began on October 12 and concluded on November 5. The BJP alliance got 38 percent.
As the vote count began at 8 a.m. across Bihar, initially it seemed that the BJP and its allies were forging ahead. But the picture changed soon as the Grand Alliance clawed back strongly.
Thousands of jubilant JD-U, RJD and Congress activists then celebrated even as gloom descended in the BJP camp. India Inc welcomed the results.
It is the BJP's second straight defeat in state elections since the Aam Aadmi Party routed it in Delhi in February.
Asked how the Grand Alliance overcame the BJP, JD-U leader Nawal Sharma told IANS: "Nitish's glittering face and Lalu's strong base got us the numbers. All the polarising (bids) of BJP - Dadri, Pakistan, cow, beef - have hit them hard."
BIHAR OUTCOME REFERENDUM ON MODI: KEJRIWAL
The BJP-led coalition's defeat in Bihar was a referendum on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's working style, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Sunday.
"The results are a referendum on the work and working style of Modi," the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader told media persons here.
He also said that the impressive win by the ruling Janata Dal-United (JD-U) and its allies Rashtriya Janata Dal and Congress had shattered the "arrogance" and "self-pride" of Modi and BJP president Amit Shah.
"The Bihar results have proved that the people do not approve of the politics of hatred.
"An atmosphere of intolerance had enveloped the entire country. I am hopeful that all this will stop and the politics of affection will start."
After congratulating his Bihar counterpart and JD-U leader Nitish Kumar on the "historic victory", Kejriwal referred to the rising prices of food items.
"The people of this country want that Modi should stop touring foreign countries and work in India."
Later, the AAP said in a statement that "it was teaching a lesson to the BJP for its politics of hatred".
Kejriwal, who has been having a running feud with the central government, had come out in support of Nitish Kumar ahead of and during the staggered Bihar elections that ended on November 5.
Kejriwal, whose AAP routed the BJP in Delhi assembly elections in February, hoped that the Bihar outcome would bring an end to the "illegal" and "unconstitutional" interference by the central government in Delhi.
NEGATIVE STATEMENTS BY BJP LEADERS WORKED AGAINST NDA: SHARAD YADAV
Negative statements from leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party and the RSS during the Bihar assembly election campaign went against the NDA, Janata Dal-United chief Sharad Yadav said here on Sunday.
"(RSS chief) Mohan Bhagwat's remark on (doing away with) reservation also went against them. It became a big factor," he told CNN-IBN TV.
Yadav said it was a defeat for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, his government and leaders like BJP chief Amit Shah who were fully involved in the electioneering.
"It's a win for the Grand Alliance and Nitish Kumar's developmental work...," he added.
START DELIVERING ON PROMISES, RAHUL TELLS MODI
Accusing the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi of "arrogance", Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Sunday said Modi should begin to deliver on his poll promises with speed or else the people would "throw him out of power".
The Congress, the youth and writers who returned their awards were saying that "you are the prime minister of the country; stop making promises and begin working", Gandhi told media persons after the victory of the Grand Alliance in Bihar.
"The country's (progress) has stopped for (the last) one year. Your vehicle is not getting started. Start it and press the accelerator. If you do not press the accelerator, the people of the country will open the door of the vehicle and throw you out," he said.
"It is a victory against (attempts to) pitch Hindus against Muslims. This country belongs to all. We have scored a big victory over divisiveness, anger and arrogance," he said.
The country was telling Modi that he, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and the Bharatiya Janata Party cannot divide it, the Congress leader said.
"There is one message for Modi-ji which is ringing throughout India and he should listen and understand it carefully. He is the prime minister of the country and the whole country is telling him that he, the RSS and BJP cannot divide it."
"Bihar verdict is not a victory against the NDA but against the ideology of the RSS, the BJP and Modi," Gandhi said and asked the prime minister to cut down on his foreign tours.
He congratulated Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Lalu Prasad over the success, saying it was a "victory of truth and brotherhood".
"We will show it in the coming days that this country does not belong to a particular caste or religion but belongs to everyone. There should be brotherhood," he said.
The Congress leader alleged that the BJP and Modi had become arrogant. "I say that this arrogance should come down. It will benefit him and the country."
Referring to the controversial remarks made by BJP leaders and the prime minister during the Bihar assembly elections, he said: "It does not behove them."
"The message is very clear that this country needs love and brotherhood."
"You go to England, the United States and China. You talk of Pakistan. Please stop roaming. Talk of farmers also and go among them. Go among the youth whom you promised employment. Embrace them and run the country," Gandhi said.
IT'S PERSONAL DEFEAT OF MODI: OWAISI
MIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Sunday said the Bihar assembly elections result is a personal defeat of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
"It's a personal defeat of Modi as never before a prime minister campaigned so much in an election," said the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen chief, whose party contested six of the 243 constituencies but drew a blank.
"Never before in the history of independent India, we had seen a sitting prime minister getting so involved and addressing more than 35 public meetings," the Hyderabad MP told reporters at Darussalam, the MIM headquarters.
Stating that people of Bihar have given decisive mandate against communalism and fascism, he congratulated Nitish Kumar and other partners of Grand Alliance.
"The atmosphere in Bihar was that Modi should be defeated. Muslims and other communities had decided to defeat Modi," he said.
Owaisi hoped that Nitish and the alliance would live up to people's expectations and work for the development of Bihar, especially the backward region of Seemanchal.
Owaisi, whose party contested six seats in Seemanchal, said it would continue to fight for the development of the region and to get justice for the people.
While admitting that the MIM could not win the confidence of people, he said perhaps their hard work and the time was not sufficient.
"Many people told me that we should have started (the campaign) early. Others wanted us to continue our work to fight the long battle of Seemanchal," said Owaisi.
The MP said the biggest takeaway for MIM from Bihar elections is that it made a beginning in that state and introduced itself to the people.
"The biggest takeaway is that we went there (and) established our organization. We will continue to go there, overcome our shortcomings and strengthen the party," he said.
He was confident of a better performance in the next assembly elections.
