BJP had claimed victory in Bihar assembly polls for the NDA even as counting for 50 seats was underway
After more than 14 hours of counting, many twists and turns and allegations of cheating, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) was announced as the winner of the Bihar Assembly election in the (very) early hours of Wednesday morning. Boosted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's several rallies, the NDA hit the majority mark of 122 at 2.57 AM.
According to data on the Election Commission's website, the BJP won 72 seats to emerge as the senior member in its alliance with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's JDU, which managed just 42.
The opposition, led by the RJD's Tejashwi Yadav, put up a strong fight but eventually fell short. However, with 75 seats the RJD is the single-largest party. The Congress, viewed by many as the reason for the opposition's failure to go all the way, contested 70 seats but won only 19. Chirag Paswan's LJP, which was the source of much frustration for Nitish Kumar, won just one seat.
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Ashwini Kumar Choubey said that the people of Bihar have elected double-engine government and rejected "double yuvraj," in an apparent dig at Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav.
"I would like to express my gratitude towards the people of Bihar. This victory is a result of PM Narendra Modi's hard work and guidance. People have elected double-engine government and rejected the ''double yuvraj''," he said.
Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the electoral victory that the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) pulled off in a closely fought Bihar elections.
"Today is a historic day that NDA has won again the extraordinary trust of the people of Bihar. They trusted PM Modi's leadership whose commitment resonated with them that without the development of Bihar, development of India will remain incomplete," Mr Prasad said.
"I have to make only one request to our friends in the opposition. We are dignified in our victory, let them show some grace in their defeat. That is the essence of democracy," he added.
Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) chief Chirag Paswan on Wednesday said that people of Bihar have reposed their faith in Prime Minister Narendra Modi and credited him with the BJP's victory in the Assembly polls.
"People of Bihar have reposed faith in Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The result shows that people are excited for the BJP. This is PM Modi's victory," Mr Paswan tweeted in Hindi.
The Paswan scion also congratulated the candidates who fought for the party and hoped that the efforts will reap the benefit in the future.
"All the LJP candidates fought well the elections all alone. Party's vote share also increased. LJP went with ''Bihar first Bihari first'' resolution. The party also strengthened in every district and will benefit in future," he added.
It was a tough assembly election for Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar as he faced multiple challenges in his bid for the fourth successive term in office. The challenge posed by Rashtriya Janata Dal-led Mahagathbandhan gained momentum as the campaign progressed and Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) leader Chirag Paswan also gunned for him.
The performance of Janata Dal-United has down compared its performance in the 2015 elections and the ruling party could not win even half of the number of seats it contested in this election. But the seats it won were enough to give a cushion to the strong performance by BJP to take the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) past the majority mark in the 243-member House.
Nitish Kumar's party could only win 43 seats out of the 115 seats it contested whereas BJP, which fielded 110 candidates registered victory in 74 constituencies.
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