Nitish the CM who trounced PM; Bihar verdict an eye opener for BJP

Indian politics saw a paradigm shift on November 8 with people’s mandate returning to its favourite Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in Battleground Bihar.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s high pitched campaign fell on deaf ears as BJP-led NDA was heavily rejected in the state thus setting the course for upcoming assembly elections in Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Assam and Uttar Pradesh.

The defeat becomes quite concerning for BJP as it is the second failure of Narendra Modi after Delhi since Lok Sabha polls 2014.

The Prime Minister failed the litmus test; had his party won it would have been a one-sided contest for BJP in the country, but a failure raises significant questions on the leadership scenarios within the party.

Has the Modi wave finally lost its charm? Is BJP losing faith in its leadership? Is it time to shift foothold? Yes may be!

What does the Bihar Verdict means?

New strategy required by BJP? BJP will face a troubled scenario in Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Assam where elections are due in 2016. They will require a new strategy in future. Amit Shah’s prestige is at stake now. He engineered Lok Sabha elections well but failed miserably in Delhi and Bihar elections. Internal politics is also expected against him now.

Mix season for politicians' relatives: RJD chief Lalu Prasad's sons - Tejashwi Prasad (Raghopur) and Tej Pratap (Mahua) foirst trailer but gathered up speed soon. Ram Vilas Paswan's son-in-law and nephew trailed in their constituencies badly. Jitan Ram Manjhi's son, Santosh Kumar Suman led in the Kutumba constituency right from the start. Arijit Shashwat Choubey, son of Ashwini Kumar Choubey, struggled to hold on to his father's former seat, trailing the Congress's Ajeet Kumar.

Brand Nitish returns with fervor: Narendra Modi rose to fame in 2014 by riding on a single party leader followed by Arvind Kejriwal AAP in Delhi and Nitish Kumar (JDU) in Bihar. Also, don’t be surprised to see him as the Opposition face in 2019 if Congress falls weak in future.

Return of Opposition: A new lease of life for Nitish Kumar, Lalu Prasad Yadav, Sharad Yadav, Sonia and Rahul Gandhi. The opposition will now roar in the face of BJP at Centre. Now ‘alliance of opposition formations’ will become a new model and is likely to be replicated in other states.

Caste and reservation returns to fore: Using RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat’s statement for his own context, Lalu once again showed that Bihar was an election between forwards and backwards.

Yes, Caste politics, which always played a significant role in Bihar was expected to be replaced by developmental issues in the state but in vain.

Many residents while speaking to News Nation ahead of counting day claimed that Bihar elections will focus majorly on development issues but the results prove that favouritism is still the key in Bihar.

Observers believe that the factors which could have contributed to BJP’s fall would have been a lot of negative campaigning, no CM candidate and opposition’s unity.

Senior Journalist Vinod Agnihotri believes that BJP loss in state will lead to polarisation in Indian Politics. The anti-BJP alliance will strengthen and Modi’s image will be severely hit thus halting his developmental agenda in state and Centre.

Another senior journalist Rahul Dev also agrees.

“Narendra Modi’s popularity is set to decline. Mahagathbandhan will become a hindrance for BJP at Centre. A setback to Developmental issues will hamper economy and FDI investment in the country.”

Here it is also important to discuss the role of King turned kingmaker Lalu Prasad Yadav whose return is crucial for Bihar.

If Nitish was the face of elections, it was Lalu who was actually the working force behind. Meanwhile, celebrations by Congress is a little scary as they still stand at 4th rank in the entire scenario.

Nobody said that PM’s life would be in turmoil if BJP loses the lections but yes he will be fighting a battle every day with a rejuvenated opposition.

So far he has succeeded in overcoming the adversity in the past but an engineering graduate like Nitish Kumar is certainly no less battle-hardened than Modi.

Modi must remember that after election results Nitish has emerged as a new brand who is difficult to be restrained with especially all opposition forces uniting with Bihar CM against Modi government.

The regional straps at Centre will restrain Modi thus marking the beginning of a silly season in Indian politics.

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