NDA tsunami in Bihar

Patna: The ruling NDA decimated the Mahagathbandhan in Bihar on Friday to retain power reaffirming Prime Minister Narendra Modi's popularity and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's enduring appeal and dealing a body blow to the Congress and ally RJD.

The massive scale of the victory of the National Democratic Alliance(NDA) can be gauged from the fact that its two main constituents-BJP and JD(U)-are on course for an over 85 per cent strike rate in 101 seats each they had contested. The alliance is set for a "200 paar" win for a three-fourth majority with BJP emerging as the single largest party. It was on its way to secure 202 seats while Mahagathbandhan was down to 35 seats.

While the BJP won 87 seats, up from 74 in 2020, Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal(U) tasted success in 78 constituencies, up from 43.

The majority mark in the 243-member Assembly is 122. The BJP and the JD(U) were leading in two and seven seats respectively. The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) seat tally slipped to 24 from 75 and Congress bagged only six out of the 61 seats it contested, down from 19. RJD was leading in one.

Overcoming anti-incumbency, Chief Minister Kumar thanked people of the state for giving a "landslide" victory for the NDA. "People of the state have expressed their confidence in our government by giving us a landslide mandate in the polls. For this, I bow to all the esteemed voters of the state, and express my heartfelt gratitude and thanks," Kumar wrote in a post on X. He also expressed gratitude to Prime Minister Modi for his continuous support to the NDA government in the state.

A mix of state and central welfare schemes, including the monetary aid to women as part of NDA's women-centric outreach, a constant reminder of the "jungle raj" during the RJD rule by Modi and other NDA campaigners and the viability of a “double-engine” government appears to have largely contributed to their landslide victory.

Navigating the complex caste and community dynamics, NDA's wider caste alliance that dented the Mahagatbandhan's core vote bank, multiple welfare schemes targeted at Economically Backward Class(EBC) households, huge support from women who overwhelmingly supported the liquor ban and from young voters also helped the five-party alliance. One of the most striking features of this election was the extraordinary turnout of women voters.