Nationalism triumphs over caste in Bihar

PATNA: The results of the Lok Sabha election in the state came on expected lines on Thursday. The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) comprising the BJP, JD(U) and the LJP has done exceptionally well bagging 39 of the 40 seats.
Two senior state BJP netas — Sushil Kumar Modi and Nityanand Rai — attributed the reason for the landslide victory to the team work and well-planned poll strategy. “The leaders and workers of NDA allies BJP, LJP and the JD(U) worked together as a team, which yielded desired results,” the duo said.
The results transcended caste barriers.Though the political parties had allocated tickets to the candidates taking their castes into consideration, the electorate went a step further and voted in bloc in favour of the NDA, which performed far better than the 2014 election when it had won 31 of the 40 seats. The BJP had got 22 seats, LJP six and RLSP three.
“Is election mein logon ne jaati se upar uthkar vote diya hai. Rashtiyata aur rashtra surakha ke liye vote hai (People have voted cutting across caste lines. The mandate is for nationalism and nation’s security),” BJP state president Nityanand Rai, who also won from the Ujiyarpur Lok Sabha seat for the second term, said.
While the issues of nationalism and nation’s security reigned supreme, CM Nitish Kumar’s face as ‘vikas purush’ also helped the NDA. Nitish never missed the opportunity to mention the Centre’s contribution to the state’s development during his election meetings.
The social equation of the NDA also worked wonders at the ground level. The JD(U), which is now part of the NDA, had snapped its ties with the BJP in 2013 and contested election in 2014 on its own. However, the party could then manage to secure only two seats.
In 2014, the BJP-led combine had polled 37% votes and the UPA, then comprising the Congress and the RJD, had got 27%. The JD(U) had fetched 16% votes. If the vote share of the BJP-led combine and the JD(U) are counted together, it comes to around 53%, which is much higher than the RJD-led combine.
“Keeping the fact in mind, the BJP entered into an alliance with the JD(U) and gave it 17 seats at the cost of five seats that the saffron party had won in 2014 parliamentary election. And the combination bore fruitful results,” said Pramod Kumar, a political analyst.
That the NDA was facing incumbency also proved wrong. The new social equation chalked out by RJD chief Lalu Prasad also failed to stop Modi-led NDA from coming to power. The RJD-led Grand Alliance had brought RLSP, HAM (S) and VIP into its fold to counter NDA in Bihar but that didn’t click.
The central government’s schemes, such as Ujjwala, Ayushman Bharat and Swachh Mission benefited the people in the hinterland. This was evident from the turnout of women voters in rural areas during the seven-phase election.
The people’s anger over unemployment, sand shortage and sale of illicit liquor despite prohibition in the state vanished in the name of nationalism and national security.
“Two issues — sand and liquor — were expected to play spoilsport for the NDA, especially the JD(U) in Bihar. But these issues remained under carpet and never got prominence in the election campaign launched by the opposition parties,” said an RJD leader, who was shocked at the party’s humiliating defeat in the election.
Moreover, the GA constituents failed to win the faith of the electorate, who voted in favour of the NDA candidates in absence of united opposition.