The BJP-JDU alliance has won the Bihar assembly elections 2010 in a manner which would be remembered in the history. Together, the alliance has won 206 out of 243 seats.
The JD(U) and the BJP won 115 and 91 seats as against 87 and 55 seats respectively in the October 2005 polls. The JD(U) had contested 141 seats and the BJP the remaining 102. The RJD-LJP alliance, led by Mr Lalu Prasad Yadav, won just 25 seats. The Congress, which contested all 243 constituencies and raised hopes for itself, won just four seats as opposed to the nine it had won in the 2005 polls. Ref: https://www.deccanchronicle.com/node/200324
There are many messages out of the results. But the most important in my opinion is that people care for all round development, irrespective of who is doing it. Nitish Kumar had done a wonderful job in the last 5 years and people of Bihar knew that and hence rewarded him. BJP had been a responsible partner and a national party, which anyway has a strong base in the state. It reflected in a 90% success factor for its candidates, which is seldom seen for any party in any state.
I don’t agree with a section of media’s assertion that BJP performed so well because it compromised on Hindutva demands, e.g. it didn’t send Mr. Narendra Modi to campaign in Bihar. I believe that the same results or better would have come if Narendra Modi campaigned in Bihar – because this time people had a strong resolve to support the present government because of the development work it had done. Irrespective of religion, caste or any other dividing factor, everyone likes development and prosperity – and this message is nothing new for anyone. Just that this time it surprised the cynics.
The results have also proven that Rahul Gandhi’s campaigns and his childish statements (e.g. against RSS in order to garner Muslim votes) would not stand anywhere, until the state government is doing its job properly.
In a way, Bihar has shown a way for all parties and all governments. I don’t say that Nitish Kumar has pioneered it. It was proven by Narendra Modi in Gujarat – people from all sections voted for him because they saw in him a true leader for the interests of his state. Every time Narendra Modi asks for votes, he simply asks his reward for doing so much development. Nitish did the same thing, and won.
We can hope that all the political parties and governments would learn lessons from the success of NDA (BJP-JDU) government in Bihar and would look at their performance card rather than making some discriminating policies for appeasement of sections, in order to win votes.
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