The spectacular victory of the NDA in Bihar was probably a foregone conclusion even as the campaign began about a month back. NDA’s total of 200 plus seats, almost double what it got in 2020, proves the invincibility of the BJP’s apex leadership. It appears to have mastered the art of winning elections. Besides micromanagement of every constituency up to polling booth level through “panna pramukhs”, the party’s election machinery had begun work almost one year before the election process began. A lot more contributed to this landslide win.
For over five years, one of the longest-serving chief ministers of Bihar, JD (U)’s Nitish Kumar, earned the epithet “sushasan babu” (good governance man). His focus on development in the background of RJD’s mismanagement, corruption and total absence of rule of law attracted the attention of the people. His switching over to the NDA was seen as a strategic move. Kumar realised that elections aren’t won only with good work or economic progress. Emphasis on caste configuration and choice of allies is also important. There was no way he could have pulled off this victory with RJD or Congress on his side.
State-Centre synergy
As for the BJP, the party has very few leaders in Bihar. That’s probably why the party included Nitish Kumar in the NDA in 2024, even though Kumar had deserted the alliance in August 2022 and joined the Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance) and UPA.
With NDA firmly in the saddle in Patna, the two parties began rolling out development projects like the Mukhya Mantri Gram Sampark Yojana, the JP Ganga Path project, Atal Path Yojana, and several popular social welfare schemes. Along with increased salaries for ASHA workers, dedicated markets for women, and special schemes for women students, including pink buses, Kumar’s image as a votary of prohibition earned him a strong goodwill among a large section of women. The Rs 10,000 cash transfer to over a crore women (self-help groups) was likely the last strategic move before elections.
BJP’s unique campaign slogan of “double-engine governance” in Madhya Pradesh, Haryana and Maharashtra was a runaway electoral success. This narrative projects stability, cooperation with the Centre, and assurance of funds for the state’s welfare schemes. In Bihar, the “double-engine” slogan highlighted a united BJP-JD(U) government, promising state welfare and progress. Against the backdrop of constant bickering between the AAP government in Delhi and the central government, voters want a state government that can work seamlessly with the Centre.
Also read: How Nitish Kumar turned all rules of voter behaviour on their head
End of Jungle Raj
The RJD government led by Lalu Prasad Yadav and then his wife Rabri Devi from 1990 to 2005 was probably the darkest phase in Bihar’s history, described as “Jungle Raj”. Private caste armies and underworld dons had a free run with no judicial accountability.
In his first term in 2005, Nitish Kumar successfully restored law and order, established fast-track courts, recruited nearly 70,000 new personnel, doubling the police force with modern weapons, a better salary scale, and more police stations. With these reforms, kidnappings for ransom fell from 411 in 2004 to 66 in 2010, and the murder rate dropped from 11.4 to 6.2 per 1,00,000 people, according to National Crime Records Bureau data.
Against this narrative, the opposition projected the 36-year-old Tejaswi Yadav, Lalu Yadav’s youngest son, whose only claim to leadership was his connection to the “family”. His campaign was based on the same narrative of the Muslim-Yadav (MY) alliance and anti-central government rhetoric. The opposition was unable to erase the image of “Jungle Raj” and leadership-by-birth remarks. To add to his troubles, scion of Congress’ first family, Rahul Gandhi, based his campaign on “vote chori,” which not only failed to take off but became counterproductive, seemingly mocking the intelligence of voters.
In a worst-ever debacle, the Congress has won just five seats in a state where it once had its own chief minister. Beginning with zero seats in 2005, the Congress got 27 seats in 2015 and 19 seats in 2020, but was reduced to irrelevance once again.
The much-acclaimed ‘third alternative’ projected by Prashant Kishor of the Jan Suraaj Party (JSP) drew a complete blank, failing to win even a single seat. As voting details are finalised, it will be clear which party he affected the most. As of now, JSP and the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) have mopped up a big chunk of votes which would have gone to the Congress and RJD. All these parties, the RJD, Congress, JSP, and other outfits in the Mahagatbandhan, have become history.
Bihar, India’s third most populous state and one that is nearly 89 per cent rural, is one of the BIMARU states along with Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, all ruled by the BJP-led NDA. It is now the responsibility of the NDA and, more importantly, the BJP to catapult these states to greater heights of development and prosperity.
Seshadri Chari is the former editor of ‘Organiser’. He tweets @seshadrichari. Views are personal.
(Edited by Ratan Priya)