BJP upbeat over Bihar ULB poll results

PATNA: Although the urban local body (ULB) elections were not held on party lines, yet quite a good number of candidates with BJP background emerged victorious in what has come as a pleasant surprise for the saffron party, which was thrown out of power in the state in August this year by CM Nitish Kumar, who formed a new government with RJD-led Grand Alliance (GA). The results of the second phase of ULB polls declared on Friday may also worry the seven-party GA.
In the 17 municipal corporations across the state, the BJP-backed candidates won at seven places — Patna, Muzaffarpur, Bhagalpur, Katihar, Ara, Chhapra and Bettiah — whereas the GA-supported candidates won at eight places — Gaya, Motihari, Samastipur, Purnia, Munger, Begusarai, Sasaram and Darbhanga. The remaining 2 winners were neutral ones.

What surprised many was the defeat of the relatives of a good number of ruling coalition leaders, including former CM Jitan Ram Manjhi, Deputy Speaker in state assembly Maheshwar Hazari, JD(U) MLA Gopal Mandal, CPI(ML) legislator Sudama Prasad and RJD heavyweights late Mohammad Taslimuddin and former education minister Ram Prakash Mahato.
“The results reflect that the GA is failing to make it a one-sided contest in state politics as its charisma is not being felt as was being expected. Instead, the BJP looks getting stronger with each election,” former Patna University professor and analyst NK Choudhary told TOI on Saturday, adding the developments would hugely impact the 2024 Lok Sabha and 2025 state polls.
However, JD(U) state spokesperson Ranbir Nandan refused to attach much political importance to the mayoral poll outcome. “Consolidation of votes would have got stronger had the elections been fought on party lines,” he said.