The election results of 2020 in Bihar in more ways than one will script the political future of the state, and also drastically bring about a change in who is perceived as the main political force across Bihar. Since today morning, results have been trickling in at an unusually slow pace, but which in no uncertain terms have convinced us all that the BJP is now Bihar’s most formidable political entity, far beyond the RJD and JD(U). As of the time of filing this report, the BJP was leading on well over 80 seats in Bihar, making it comfortably the single-largest party in the state assembly.
Despite major anti-incumbency, the JD(U)’s alliance with the BJP is helping it put up a decent fight in the state. Nevertheless, it is far below the BJP’s tally, and in such a scenario, ideally Nitish Kumar should have the political maturity of handing over Chief Ministership to the BJP. However, irrespective of who becomes Chief Minister, the BJP seems to have, with its stellar performance in Bihar, shown not only the RJD, Congress and LJP who the boss is, but also its own alliance partner – JD(U) its place in the state.
It can be said with a sense of authority that the results which are emerging out of Bihar are courtesy the effect that Prime Minister Modi and his campaign in the state has had. Subtract the Prime Minister’s involvement, and Bihar would have in all likelihood gone the Mahagathbandhan’s way. Nitish Kumar has evoked a sense of fatigue among the voters of the state, and his political fortunes in this election have only been salvaged to an extent by the BJP. As such, Nitish Kumar enjoying a full term as Chief Minister is highly unlikely. At the most, what the BJP is now expected to settle for is a two-and-a-half-year term of Chief Ministership for the JD(U) first, followed by it placing its own candidate on the top seat.
This will not only ensure that BJP fights the 2025 elections with a Chief Ministerial face, but also pushes Nitish Kumar and the JD(U)’s electoral fortunes in Bihar to near extinction. Needless to say, the next Bihar polls would see the saffron party fighting the battle alone. The JD(U), in this election itself, has proven to be more of a liability for the BJP than an asset. Perhaps, pre-empting the results, and BJP’s reaction to them, Nitish Kumar announced in Purnea prior to the third phase of voting that this would be his last election.
While his emotional pitch seems to have helped the JD(U)’s fortunes this time around, the BJP has effectively managed to push Nitish’s party into the third position in Bihar. Within the NDA alliance, JD(U) is now the second fiddle, something which is aimed for by the BJP in every state. Whether the dynamics of the result change drastically by tonight is yet to be seen.