The results of the Bihar Assembly elections were declared on November 10. It was the first full-fledged election in India during the coronavirus pandemic. But that did not deter people from casting their votes. More than 4 crore out of over 7 crore eligible voters stepped out to vote, said the Election Commission. According to the results, National Democratic Alliance (NDA), which comprises BJP, Janata Dal (United) (JDU) of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, and a couple of small parties, retained Bihar by winning 125 seats in a tightly contested election. Challenging NDA was Grand Alliance, which comprised Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) of Tejashvi Yadav, Congress, and three communist parties. It got 110 seats in the 243-member legislative assembly. The half-way mark is 122.
Just a month before election, it was seen as a cakewalk for the NDA. However, RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav took things into his hands and dominated the election campaign. He set the agenda for the campaign and put the NDA on the defensive. But the NDA got the edge thanks to BJP’s election strategy, Prime Minister Modi’s popularity and communal rhetoric.
Despite the Grand Alliance falling behind the majority mark, RJD became the single largest party in the Assembly. It got 75 seats, while the BJP got 74. It is laudable also because the election was looking one sided for NDA till a month ago. Tejashwi Yadav was nowhere to be seen in the state. Not only his opponents, but his own party members and allies doubted his ability to lead the party and the alliance.
But once the campaign began, Mr. Tejaswi (31) pushed himself into it. He raised the issue of unemployment in the state from where people migrate on a large scale to other states for jobs. It was also significant on the backdrop of thousands of migrant workers facing hardships during the lockdown. Addressing 247 rallies across the state in about a month, he promised 10 lakh jobs if he came to power. The BJP first questioned where will so many jobs come from, and later itself promised 19 lakh jobs if it won.
In response to Tejashwi Yadav’s unemployment issue, the NDA centered its campaign around the fear of the so called Jungle raj during the rule of Tejashwi Yadav’s father Lalu Prasad Yadav between 1990 and 2005, and emotional and communal issues such as Article 370, Ram temple, CAA, Chhatpuja. Senior NDA leaders made personal attacks on Mr. Tejashwi and his family. For example, he was called “jungle raj ka yuvraj” (prince of jungle raj). But he did not respond to them in the similar language or tone and continued his campaign focused on unemployment. That paid off as the campaign did not get ugly and the Grand Alliance got just 12000 votes less than the NDA.
Despite all this, Bihar election 2020 is the story of BJP’s growth in the state. JD (U) which was till now the senior partner in the NDA, and used to win more seats than the BJP, remained far behind in this election with just 43 seats. Both the parties had contested equal number of seats. However, it seems the BJP is not attempting long jump of the kind it attempted in Maharashtra and fell down. In Bihar, it is taking one step at a time. That is why BJP leaders have reiterated that JD (U)’s Nitish Kumar will continue as Chief Minister.
Clearly, RJD and BJP are going to be the two dominant forces in Bihar. Though the communist parties performed well, even better than Congress, their influence is limited. The BJP has been using emotional issues and blatantly communal rhetoric to win elections. However, these strengths will eventually become its limitations, at least in the state elections. Bihar’s people will benefit if both the parties focus instead on issues that have an impact on people’s lives.
Calling Attention 