The polls were held amid differences between alliance partners in both NDA and the Grand Alliance of RJD and Congress
PATNA: Bihar’s ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) on Thursday won 13 of the 24 legislative council seats. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won seven of the 12 seats it contested. It won 11 seats in 2015 and later two legislative council members joined the party, taking its tally to 13. The BJP, in 2015, contested on its own while Janata Dal (United) or JD (U) was part of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD)-led alliance.
JD (U) won five while another NDA ally one seat on Thursday. RJD bagged six seats. Congress, which contested on its own, and an Independent won a seat each.
The legislative council polls were held amid differences between alliance partners in both NDA and the Grand Alliance of RJD and Congress. The NDA lost in East Champaran, West Champaran, and Munger, the parliamentary constituency of the JD (U) national president Rajiv Ranjan Singh. The loss in Munger has been linked to a face-off between Singh and Speaker Vijay Kumar Sinha even as the JD (U) denied this. “If that was the case, why did the party lose in Patna. We will definitely ponder over the factors which went against us,” said JD (U) leader Neeraj Kumar.
BJP leader Rajiv Ranjan said the results will have no impact on the Bochachan assembly by-poll. “The by-poll has nothing to do with council elections in which masses do not participate. In assembly polls, masses take part and they are with the Prime Minister,” said Ranjan. “We did well in council polls but we could have performed better. In council polls, the polling system has changed in which RJD has an upper hand. The NDA is united.”
RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav used a helicopter for the first time to campaign for the council polls. He visited almost all constituencies to seek support from local bodies’ representatives, who were the voters in the polls.
Gyanendra Yadav, a sociology professor, said Nitish Kumar gave teeth to panchayats and their representatives. “They were the core voters. But results show that money and caste factors remained.”
Internal dissension is believed to have cost RJD at least five seats. Three Bhumihars out of five won on RJD tickets. Bhumihars were once opposed to RJD. “It is a worrying signal for the BJP as they have been the core supporters of the party. The RJD’s experiment of involving forward castes seems to have paid off,” said Gyanendra Yadav.
Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation leader Parwaz Alam said NDA’s tally came down from 20 to 13 despite using money and power. “This shows the silent protest against the government’s anti-people policies. RJD winning more seats is a welcome sign.”
Vikasheel Insaan Party, whose leader Mukesh Sahani was dropped as a minister after his attacks on BJP, unsuccessfully contested seven seats.
