The BJP, which had been under Opposition attack over a series of issues over the past month, on Friday had some reason to celebrate. The party has swept the legislative council polls in an election, which was seen as a litmus test for the JD (U)-RJD combine.
The legislative council election results in Bihar brought jubilation to the BJP headquarters here. Party leaders said it had laid bare the writing on the wall for the Nitish Kumar- Lalu Prasad Yadav alliance in the upcoming assembly elections in the state.
The BJP, which had been under Opposition attack over a series of issues over the past month, on Friday had some reason to celebrate. The party has swept the legislative council polls in an election, which was seen as a litmus test for the JD (U)-RJD combine.
The results in the 24 seats where elections were held on July 7 has infused confidence in the party cadre and alliance about the assembly elections, sources said. The BJP, which had held five seats, has won 11 of the 18 it contested while earlier the JD-U had 13 seats. The JD (U)-RJD combine won eight seats. "People from every village have sent Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad Yadav a clear message of rejection.... It is a sample of things to come," BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain said.
He said the election was held at a time when preparations had begun for the assembly elections and posters had been put up. "Their poster said 'badhta Bihar phir se Nitish Kumar'. We have changed that to 'darta Bihar ab nahi Nitish Kumar," Hussain said.
The election had a large chunk of the dalit and mahadalit votes, which the BJP is trying to reach out to with Ram Vilas Paswan's LJP and former Bihar chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi in the NDA fold.
Party sources said the result would be seen as a message that the people had endorsed the performance of the Modi government at the Centre. With the BJP-led alliance has been fighting a faceless battle in the state, the result was bound to be interpreted as a verdict on the Prime Minister.
"The people of Bihar have seen through the game plan of Nitish Kumar and rejected the opportunistic alliance," BJP spokesperson in Bihar Devesh Kumar said.
BJP sources said the RJD's votes had not transferred to the JD-U. In Patna, RJD rebel Reetlal Yadav, who is in Beur jail, won defeating BJP's Bola Yadav and JD-U's sitting MLC Balmiki Singh. The BJP has won from Lalu Prasad Yadav's Saran district defeating JD-U's Salim Parvez. The JD-U and RJD fought ten seats each while the Congress had its candidate in three seats and NCP in one seat.
Aggressive campaigning
The BJP is planning to roll out 160 raths across the state on July 16 as part of its aggressive joint campaign with allies. Sources said the raths will have LED screens on which clips of remarks made by Nitish Kumar and Lalu Yadav against each other will be played to highlight the inherent contradictions in the Janata Parivar. The party will also hold 30,000 public meetings. Party president Amit Shah is expected to be in the state next week, ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit on July 25.
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