Most political observers had sought to project the Bihar assembly polls as some kind of a referendum on the performance of the NDA government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. His critics, too, appeared to endorse this view. The battle for Pataliputra was seen as the first real test of Modi’s popularity since he assumed the reins of the country for the second time in a row last year. Much before it was announced, they had made the verdict look like a matter of life and death for not only the NDA and Prime Minister Modi but also for the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD)-led Mahagathbandhan (grand alliance).
In the event it was indeed a verdict on the performance of NDA, with the people of Bihar endorsing it once again and quite decisively at that. Even though Bihar chief minister and JD(U) president Nitish Kumar campaigned extensively, it was Modi’s election all the way. He was the star attraction even at the joint rallies of BJP and JD(U) and certainly the face of BJP’s campaign in the state. People, especially the youth, lapped up his speeches.
The verdict has been resounding and it has reaffirmed Modi’s political invincibility. Although Kumar is almost certain to be crowned the chief minister of Bihar once again, the real power now will be in the hands of BJP which has won far more seats than the JD(U), thus emerging as the senior partner in the alliance for the first time in the state. Tejaswi Yadav may have claimed the ‘man of the match’ award, with his RJD emerging as the single largest party in the heartland state, but the real winner has been Prime Minister Modi, who has not only made BJP the dominant partner in the Bihar’s ruling alliance for the first time but also further consolidated NDA’s position at the national level.
In his address to party workers in the wake of Bihar victory, Modi was emphatic about BJP’s growing popularity in the country. He said the party now had its footprints across the country. Underscoring the importance of performance, the Prime Minister said that people of the country will now support only those who work honestly for development. Expressing satisfaction at the smooth conduct of elections in the state, where incidents of booth capturing used to be frequent in the past, Modi described the verdict as the victory of developmental work in Bihar. At the same time, he reiterated that BJP was the only national party in which the poor, dalits and the deprived saw their representation.
There is no denying that Prime Minister Modi has emerged stronger in the wake of Bihar verdict, which will put the BJP in a much better position when it faces the next assembly elections in West Bengal and thereafter in Uttar Pradesh. Bihar has proved that Modi’s magic remains intact, primarily because it springs from his hard work as the Prime Minister of the country.
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