North India Statesman
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The results of Bihar Assembly elections have proved most of the exit poll predictions wrong. Out of the total 11 exit polls, only ‘Poll Diary’ had predicted the NDA alliance to get 184 to 206 seats and now when this figure has reached close to 200, these results are being discussed everywhere. Amidst all this, the performance of Bharatiya Janata Party is attracting the most attention. BJP contested elections on 101 seats and won a landslide victory on 91, making it the largest political party in Bihar. In 2010 also, BJP had won the same number of seats, but at that time JDU was the largest party. This time the situation is completely different and new political doors have opened for BJP.
How will the government be formed?
JDU has also performed well in this election, but with 79 seats it is 12 seats behind BJP. This statistical difference puts BJP in a position where it can form the government in Bihar even without the support of JDU. The path for this can be prepared by bringing together Chirag Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party-Ram Vilas (LJP-R), Jitan Ram Manjhi’s Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) and Upendra Kushwaha’s Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM).
PM Modi’s Hanuman did wonders!
For majority in Bihar Assembly, a magical figure of 122 seats is required. BJP has 91 MLAs. If the 21 seats of Chirag Paswan’s party, who calls himself ‘PM Modi’s Hanuman’, are added to this, then this number reaches 112. After that, by adding 5 seats of HAM and 4 seats of RLM, the total number becomes 121. Apart from this, a candidate from Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) also seems to be winning. If it gets the support of BSP, BJP can easily cross the majority mark of 122. However, this is just a political option and BJP may not adopt this path, because Nitish Kumar is still a big and important face in Bihar politics.
Nitish Kumar also has options open
On the other hand, Nitish Kumar also has his options open. If he wants, he has the ability to form a government even without BJP. If his 79 seats are merged with RJD’s 28, Congress’s 5, Owaisi’s party’s 5 and others’ 9 seats, he can also cross the majority mark. He may be in a stronger position in such a government, as RJD will be a smaller ally than him. However, in this alliance, Nitish Kumar will also have to compromise with parties like Asaduddin Owaisi, whose ideology does not match with Nitish Kumar’s liberal image. Therefore, these Bihar election results have made political pundits think and it will be interesting to see how the politics of the state turns out in the times to come.
