Patna:
Four and a half hours into the counting of votes cast in the high-voltage Bihar election, the main opposition RJD’s score is a sorry sight. The Tejashwi Yadav-led party, which contested 143 seats, is now leading in only 32 seats. If these numbers hold, it would be a massive setback for RJD, which finished as the single largest party in the 2020 state polls.
Also, this would be the RJD’s second-worst showing in a Bihar election. In the 2005 Assembly polls, when Nitish Kumar came to power in Bihar after a thumping NDA victory, the RJD had won 55 seats. At the time, Tejashwi Yadav’s mother, Rabri Devi, was the Chief Minister, and RJD was facing mounting anti-incumbency in the hinterland state. A resurgent Nitish Kumar had teamed up with the BJP and scored a thumping win, ending the RJD’s rule in Bihar. The RJD’s worst show came in the next election in 2010, when RJD managed just 22 seats.
Twenty years and Nitish Kumar’s multiple flip-flops later, the BJP and JDU are together again and are set for another big win. At 12.30 pm, they are leading on 191 seats in the 243-member Assembly. If these trends hold, Tejashwi Yadav would have led his party to its worst rout. The 36-year-old has taken charge of the party, founded by his father and veteran politician Lalu Yadav. Lalu Yadav founded RJD in 1997 and led the party to its best poll victories.
Interestingly, RJD still has the highest vote share among all the parties contesting the polls. This would mean that while it has won some seats with huge margins, it failed to convert close fights into victories.
Several rounds of counting are, however, left, and the picture may change as more votes are counted. But as of now, RJD is lagging far behind and the NDA seems set to form the government again.
