Patna / Chennai: Beating anti-incumbency of 15 years, taking on a former ally, and a stiff challenge from an opposition, Nitish Kumar-led NDA, powered by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP, was back in power in Bihar today with a slender majority.
The ruling coalition won 125 seats in the 243-member State Assembly against 110 clinched by the opposition Grand Alliance to pave the way for a fourth successive term for Kumar in office.
However, the number of JD(U) lawmakers has come down to 43 from 71 in 2015.
Despite the slump in numbers, Kumar, who was declared the NDA’s Chief Ministerial candidate by the BJP brass, including Modi and party chief J P Nadda, is set to take over the reins of the government.
Apart from Nitish Kumar’s creditable performance as an administrator, the multiple claimants to Muslim votes, including the Grand Democratic Secular Front (GDSF) comprising Asaduddin Owaisi’s AIMIM, BSP and Upendra Kushwaha’s RLSP worked in NDA’s favour and scuttled the Mahagathbandhan’s chances. Muslim and Yadav voters have for long formed the bedrock of the RJD’s support base.
Nitish Kumar, who has a clean image and is considered incorruptible, has been credited with ridding the state of the ‘jungle raj’, as the Lalu-Rabri government of 15 years preceding 2005 is often described by its critics.
However, the drastic fall in the number of JD(U) MLAs, will likely make the BJP, which hitherto played a second fiddle to Kumar, more assertive, and it may insist on a larger share in the ministerial pie and greater say in governance.