In a state that has always been watched for what its social and political undercurrent signify, the 2020 Bihar poll results will be keenly watched. It is India’s first mass polls in the shadow of the pandemic, and Bihar’s first in a long, long time without either Lalu Prasad or the just deceased Ram Vilas Paswan present. Nitish Kumar, meanwhile, has conceded much ground in his alliance with Narendra Modi’s BJP.
The fate of the Nitish-led JD(U) government, which has helmed Bihar for a decade and a half, will be decided on Tuesday as election results to the 243-member legislative assembly will be declared. The counting of votes began at 8 am at 55 centres across 38 districts.
The results will decide if the voters have decided to hand over the state’s baton to the Grand alliance (Mahagathbandhan) led by its CM candidate Tejashwi Yadav, which constitutes the RJD, the Congress and Left parties.
Most exit polls have given the RJD-Congress-Left alliance a clear edge over the JD(U)-BJP coalition and has predicted that the ruling government was on its way out. While one poll forecast that the RJD-led Opposition alliance could get a two-thirds majority, another said it would cross the halfway mark comfortably. According to pollsters, Chirag Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party, would end up with single-digit seats.
In the Grand Alliance, RJD contested on 144 seats and Congress on 70. The three Left parties fought from 29 constituencies: CPI(ML) from 19 seats, and the CPI and CPI(M) six and four seats, respectively. In the NDA camp, JD(U) and BJP were allotted 122 and 121 seats respectively. Out of that, JD(U) provided seven seats to HAM while BJP allocated 11 seats to Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) from its quota.
Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, Bihar saw a considerable voter turnout in all three phases this election. The voter turnout in the first, second and third phases of voting being held on October 28, November 3 and November 7 respectively, were recorded at 54 per cent, 55.7 per cent and 56.02 per cent respectively.
As the three-phase Bihar Assembly elections drew to a close on Saturday, exit polls unanimously predicted a clear edge for Rashtriya Janata Dalthe Mahagatbandhan, led by the Rashtriya Janata Dal’s Tejashvi Yadav.
Of the eight exit polls, two gave the RJD-led alliance a comfortable majority. While the India Today Axis My India poll predicted that the Tejashwi Prasad-led Opposition alliance would get between 139 and 161 seats, well above the halfway mark of 122, the CNN-NEWS 18-Today’s Chanakya poll gave the RJD-led alliance a landslide majority of 180 seats (plus or minus 11). The Chanakya poll gave the JD(U)-BJP alliance just 55 seats. The India Today poll predicted that the ruling alliance would get between 69 and 91 seats.
The ABP News C Voter poll predicted that the RJD-Congress-Left alliance would get between 108 and 131 seats and the JD(U)-BJP alliance between 104 and 128 seats. The Times Now C Voter poll said the RJD-alliance would get 120 seats, closely followed by the JD(U)- BJP alliance at 116.
The election has seen Nitish fighting for a fourth term, facing seeming anti-incumbency and economic distress, in an alliance with the BJP that seemed to develop deep faultlines, particularly with the LJP’s decision to contest separately, away from the NDA.
Much of the conversation around the RJD-led Grand Alliance, with the Congress and the Left as partners, has been on its ability to tap into this anti-incumbency, with Tejashwi cross-crossing the state at a breathless rate, to shore up votes beyond the traditional Muslim-Yadav bastions.
PDP president Mehbooba Mufti congratulated RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav on Wednesday on his party's performance in the Bihar Assembly election, saying he set the agenda on real issues in the polls as opposed to "divisive" politics.
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Senior BJP leader Uma Bharti said on Wednesday that her party became the “elder brother” in the NDA alliance in Bihar only through the “ladder” of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. She was speaking to reporters here a day after the BJP won more seats in Bihar Assembly elections than its ally, Kumar-led Janata Dal (United).
When asked should there be a BJP chief minister in the northern state now, Bharti said, “I don’t want to get into this.”
“The election was contested under the leadership of Nitish Kumar, and you will recall that his leadership had been announced by me in 2005 when I was BJP general secretary in-charge of Bihar. And we were able to form a government there,” she said. Click here to read more.
Visuals from BJP headquarters in Delhi
"Youth of the country today knows it very well that dynasty politics poses the biggest threat to democracy," PM Modi said.
"BJP has a large group of silent voters that is voting them repeatedly. The women, the Nari Shakti of our country are the silent voters for us. From rural to urban, women have become the largest group of silent voters for us," PM Modi said.
"Our mantra of 'sabka saath, sabka vikas, sabka vishwaas' has won in Bihar," Prime Minister Narendra Modi told the gathering of BJP workers in Delhi.
Talking about the Covid-19 pandemic, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said: "The way we've fought this pandemic from Janta Curfew till today, has been reflected in these results. Every life saved from Covid is a success story for India."
Addressing party workers, Prime Minister Narendra Modi attributed BJP's "governance model" behind its success in elections. "When people think of governance, they think of BJP," PM Modi said.
"No re-polling and peaceful conduct of voting were the distinctive features of Bihar elections 2020. Earlier there used to be news of booth capturing etc.," Prime Minister Narendra Modi says at BJP headquarters.
"The people of India clearly stated that the only point of debate during elections will be development in the 21st century India," Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in his address.
"People of India are asking every other party to come to this plank, and showing them that these are the real issues," he added.
"I congratulate every worker of NDA as well as their families for the success of their dedicated work and contribution in the elections. I want to congratulate BJP President JP Nadda ji for the victory in the polls," PM Modi said.
In his address, Prime Minister Modi said that it was not easy to conduct polls during the ongoing Covid-19 crisis. He also said that there is no comparison to the faith Indians have in their democracy.
"I want to thank the people of the country, not because they made BJP win the polls across the states, but also because all of us enthusiastically participated in the festival of democracy," Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in his address to BJP workers.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is currently addressing party workers at BJP headquarters in New Delhi.
Meanwhile, in his first reaction since Bihar election results were announced, JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar in a tweet said: "I salute the public for the majority it gave to the NDA. I thank PM Narendra Modi for his support"
Addressing party working, BJP national president JP said: "This was India's first big elections after the world was hit by the COVID pandemic. From viewpoint of contributing to the elections to bringing people out to vote for us, it has been a big and defining period."
BJP president JP Nadda welcomes PM Modi at party headquarters in New Delhi.
BJP president JP Nadda is currently addressing BJP party workers.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrives at party headquarters to take part in the BJP's celebrations following the victory in the Bihar elections and impressive show in the bypolls.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh have also arrived at party headquarters to take part in the celebrations following the victory of NDA in Bihar polls.
Visuals from BJP headquarters in Delhi
BJP National President JP Nadda has arrived at party headquarters in New Delhi.
BJP workers are currently celebrating at BJP headquarters in New Delhi, following the victory of NDA in Bihar elections. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to address them shortly.
The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) managed to avoid a late scare in the Bihar contest as its main ally, the Nitish Kumar-led JD(U), won in at least four seats where the victory margin was less than 1,000 votes.
As per the data on the Election Commission website, the thinnest margin between the winner and the runner-up was of 12 votes in Hilsa. The win, which is contested by the RJD, was handed to JD(U) candidate Krishnamurari Sharan, who got 61,848 votes to RJD candidate Atri Muni’s 61,836. More details here.
A day after the BJP-JD(U) alliance won assembly polls in Bihar, the BJP's general secretary and the state in-charge Bhupender Yadav on Wednesday said the NDA was cheated by its former member LJP of Chirag Paswan in the elections and the confusion created by them caused some losses.
Yadav also said Prime Minister Narendra Modi's credibility was the biggest factor behind the NDA's victory in the polls, while guidance of senior union Minister Amit Shah and on-ground presence of the party president JP Nadda also made a significant contribution.
"LJP has chosen its own path and in a way, it cheated the NDA. People of Bihar have conveyed to them their importance in the state politics," he was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
Buoyed by the results of Bihar assembly elections, the AIMIM which bagged five seats is now looking to spread its wings to states such as Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. Addressing reporters here on Tuesday night, AIMIM’s president Asaduddin Owaisi said the party will fight for justice in the eastern state’s Seemanchal region. Read the full report here.
AIMIM’s Bihar president Akhtar-ul Iman won from Amour, defeating sitting Congress MLA Jaleel Mastan, who has represented the constituency six times. Mastan finished third, behind the JD(U)’s Saba Zafar. Iman secured over 55 per cent of the vote share, having shifted from Kochdhaman seat. Read his interview
The Bihar results have pulled the NDA back after a series of recent setbacks.
Over the last two years, the BJP has lost two of its traditional allies, the Shiv Sena and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD). Now that the JD(U) has been weakened further, the NDA no longer has any significant parties other than the BJP. However, the BJP could make use of the opportunity to show “largeheartedness” by allowing Nitish Kumar to become Chief Minister again, a situation that would help it earn some goodwill as a good alliance partner.
This victory, coming at a time when the Prime Minister has been criticised for his handling of the Covid-19 situation, the tensions on the border with China in Ladakh, and the economic slowdown, would place him on a stronger pedestal, and encourage him to press ahead with his government’s reform agenda and other initiatives.
This election has exposed the absence of strong regional leaders in the party. The BJP, when it first came to power under Atal Bihari Vajpayee, had brought up a number of regional leaders — B S Yediyurappa in Karnataka, Shivraj Singh Chouhan in Madhya Pradesh, Vasundhara Raje in Rajasthan, and Raman Singh in Chhattisgarh — who had enough charisma and popular support to deliver their states repeatedly to the party.
Lumpsum mein, as they say in Bihar, this election verdict that made everyone count late into the evening hours is about one thing, or two. The Nitish Kumar of 2020 is the Chief Minister to whom the people are not giving the benefit of every doubt because of his supposed good intent. Today, he is the leader they are talking back to.
In this election of never-before grumbling about a three-time Chief Minister, Tejashwi Yadav was unable to seize this sentiment and make a mandate of it — and that is the second clear takeaway from this Bihar verdict. Despite the increasingly articulate anger against him, this seemed Nitish’s election to lose, not Tejashwi’s to win. Nitish was at the centre of this election. There was a formlessness about Tejashwi. Read more
Praising RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav for giving a "spirited fight" in the Bihar Assembly polls, the Shiv Sena on Wednesday needled the BJP saying that if Nitish Kumar retains the post of chief minister despite the JD(U) winning fewer seats, the credit should go to the Sena. It said that the BJP had promised that Nitish Kumar would be the next chief minister of Bihar even if his party bags less number of seats. The BJP had given a similar promise to the Sena during the 2019 Maharashra Assembly polls, but as that word was not kept, it led to a political drama in the state, the Uddhav Thackeray-led party said.
The party praised RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, who was the Mahagathbandhan's chief ministerial candidate, for putting up a formidable fight in Bihar. "Bihar has seen the rise of Tejashwi era. He single-handedly fought the people in power. It would be injustice to Tejashwi to say that Modi's charisma worked in Bihar. The election, which looked one-sided initially became a closely-fought contest due to Tejashwi," it said. The poor showing of Congress hurt Tejashwi's chances, it added.
Brothers Tejashwi Yadav and Tej Pratap won the Raghopur and Hasanpur seats with impressive margins of 38,174 and 21,139 votes respectively. Prominent losers from the RJD included Abdul Bari Siddiqui, a former state party chief, and Lalu Prasad’s Man Friday Bhola Yadav who lost from Keoti and Hayaghat seats in Darbhanga respectively. Senior Bihar minister Vijendra Prasad Yadav of JD(U) won from Supual, and Niraj Singh Babloo of the BJP, a cousin of actor Sushant Singh Rajput, whose mysterious death became an election issue, retained the Chhatapur seat.
State assembly speaker Vijay Kumar Chaudhary of the JD(U) was among the victors. Ace former shooter and Commonwealth gold medalist Shreyasi Singh of BJP won the Jamui seat by over 41,000 votes, but veteran socialist leader Sharad Yadav’s daughter Subhashini lost in Bihariganj. HAM president Jitan Ram Manjhi defeated former state assembly speaker Uday Narayan Chaudhary in Imamganj of Gaya district.
BJP leader Sushil Modi thanked the people of Bihar for expressing confidence in NDA. "I thank the people of Bihar that they expressed their faith in NDA for the fourth time. It's not ordinary. In Indian politics, there are very few CMs whom people trusted for the fourth time. They have given a clear mandate to NDA, there is no confusion," he was quoted as saying by news agency ANI
The third front in Bihar, the Grand Democratic Secular Front, which was hoping to be kingmaker at best or a good spoiler at the least, failed to make any major dent this election. While the Upendra Kushwaha-led Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP), which heads this Front, failed to secure a single seat from among the 104 it contested, the alliance’s best showing was by the Asaduddin Owaisi-led AIMIM, which won two seats and is leading in three (it fought on 20 seats). Another partner, the BSP, won one seat (out of 80).
Besides the RLSP, AIMIM and BSP, the Suhaldev Bharatiya Samaj Party and former RJD MP Devendra Yadav’s Samajwadi Janata Dal Democratic Party and Janatantrik Party (Socialist) make up this Front. In the 2015 Assembly polls, the RLSP had got over 3.6 per cent of the votes, winning two seats, and the BSP a little over 2 per cent, without winning any.
The other smaller players this election – the Mukesh Sahani-led Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP), and Pappu Yadav’s Jan Adhikar Party (JAP) — failed to create any impact. VIP, which fought on 11 seats as part of the NDA, won two seats while it led in two. But the big setback for the party was Sahani’s loss from Simri Bakhtiarpur to Yusuf Salahuddin of the RJD by a margin of around 2,000 votes. Sahani had quit the Mahagathbandhan over differences with Tejashwi Yadav.
After Kerala and Bengal, the largest contingent of Left MLAs in any state Assembly would now be in Bihar. The three Left parties — CPI(ML), CPM and CPI — have won 16 seats. Together, they had contested 29 seats as part of the RJD-led opposition alliance.
The difference this time was that with the Left parties joining the RJD-led alliance, the votes of the allies acted as a top-up, thus clinching wins for the Left. In Bhojpur district, the CPI(ML) has won Agiaon and Tarari seats and in Shahabad, it has emerged victorious in Karakat and Dumraon. In Magadh region, it won in Paliganj and Phulwari, and in Jehanabad, it won Arwal and Ghoshi. It lost Arrah seat in Bhojpur by a narrow margin of 121 votes. In Siwan, the CPI(ML) won Darauli and Ziradei but lost Daraundha. It lost the Bhorey seat by a narrow margin of 1,026 votes. The CPI(ML) has sought a recount of votes in Bhorey, Arrah and Daraundha, alleging violations of counting norms. The CPM has won Bibhutipur and Manjhi. Read more
In New Delhi, Election Commission Director General Umesh Sinha, responding to RJD’s allegations that the ruling party in the state was influencing results, said, “I want to reassure everyone that our officers are working tirelessly and are not under any pressure.”
Asked about RJD’s claim that Mahagatbandhan candidates had won 119 seats and that many of them were not being given winning certificates under pressure from the ruling dispensation, Deputy Election Commissioner Chandra Bhushan Kumar said, “As of 9 pm, results have been declared in 146 seats and trends are available for 97. This is in the public domain, and for everyone to see.”
LJP chief Chirag Paswan credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the win in the Bihar polls. "Bihar's public has shown their trust on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The results have made it clear that people are still enthusiastic about the BJP. This is Prime Minister Narendra Modi's win," he tweeted in Hindi. "All LJP candidates fought gloriously on their own without any alliance. The party's vote share has increased. It had gone to the polls with the resolve of ''Bihar first Bihari first''. It has been strengthened in every district. This is bound to benefit the party in the future," Paswan added.
Paswan had quit the NDA alliance and fielded candidates against JD(U), denting Nitish Kumar's party's prospects. The LJP has received 5.68 percent of votes and won a single seat.
The BJP was in for a rude shock in Bhagalpur on Tuesday, where it suffered defeat by a slim margin owing to a third contender eating into its votes, much like the party’s fate in the constituency in the 2015 Assembly polls. The Congress candidate Ajit Sharma defeated BJP’s Rohit Pandey by a margin of 1,113 votes, with the LJP nominee Rajesh Verma polling over 20,000 votes.
Bhagalpur is one of the five Assembly seats being contested by the BJP where the LJP — which contested the polls on its own— fielded candidates. While LJP chief Chirag Paswan was seen as propped up by the BJP to undermine Nitish Kumar, it backfired on the BJP in Bhagalpur. A largely urban constituency, Bhagalpur is dominated by Banias, Brahmins, Marwaris and Muslims. Marwaris are considered to be traditional voters of the BJP here. The BJP candidate Pandey is a Brahmin, the Congress’s Ajit Sharma a Bhumihar, and the LJP’s Verma a Marwari. Read more
The RJD's Tejashwi Yadav has found praise from the Shiv Sena's Priyanka Chaturvedi, who termed him the 'man of the match' of the election.
Congress leader Digvijaya Singh, in a tweet, appealed to Nitish Kumar to enter national politics. "Nitish ji, Bihar is too small an arena for you now; you should enter national politics. You should help build consensus among all socialist and secular parties, not let the 'divide and rule' policy of the RSS prevail," he tweeted.
In his latest opinion piece, Suhas Palshikar, chief editor of Studies in Indian Politics, has written about the main takeaways from the recently concluded Assembly elections in Bihar. "The popularity of Modi seems to be a stable factor in the BJP’s electoral politics. So much so that he has transformed into a brand. Like a brand, he can be used in any state, any context and against any competition," he writes in the opinion piece.
Posters put up in Patna following the victory of CM Nitish Kumar led NDA in the state.
The Congress emerged as the weakest link in the RJD-led grand alliance, perhaps keeping it from crossing the halfway mark. It has managed to win 19 seats after contesting in 70. It had done especially badly in the seats where it was in a straight fight with the BJP.
A leader of one of the constituents of the opposition alliance told The Indian Express that the outcome could have been different had the seat-sharing been done in a more “rational” manner. Congress sources, however, argued that the 70 seats the party contested were “traditionally non-UPA/non-Congress seats, where the strike rate of the NDA had been more than 95 per cent”.
Good morning! After over 20 hours of counting, the BJP-led NDA was announced as the winner of the Bihar election and RJD was declared as the single-largest party. As the exigencies of Covid pushed counting late into the evening, the NDA and the Opposition RJD-led Mahagathbandhan or Grand Alliance were headed for a photo finish. Finally, with trends firming up by 11 pm, the NDA pulled ahead with wins and leads totaling 125 seats against the Grand Alliance’s 110 in the 243-member Assembly.
Results of all seats in the Bihar elections have been declared. As per the final tally, the NDA has emerged victorious with 125 seats, while the mahagathbandhan won 110 seats.
The NDA is set to return to power in Bihar, winning 122 seats, and leading in 3 seats, in Bihar Assembly. The result for the 3 seats is yet to be declared
I would like to express my gratitude towards the people of Bihar. This victory is a result of PM Narendra Modi's hard work and guidance. People have elected double-engine govt and rejected 'double yuvraj': Union Minister and BJP leader Ashwini Kumar Choubey
The JD(U) has won the Hilsa assembly seat in Bihar just by 12 votes, according to the Election Commission website, a result contested by the rival RJD.
According to the results updated on the Election Commission website late Tuesday night, JD(U)'s Krishnamurari Sharan alias Prem Mukhiya has polled 61,848 votes, while the RJD's Atri Muni alias Shakti Singh Yadav has got 61,836 votes.
"Results declared," the poll panel wrote in the 'status' column for Hilsa seat late Tuesday night. And in the margin column it wrote "12".
Earlier, around 10 pm, when the poll panel website showed that votes for Hilsa were still being counted, the RJD alleged foul play in the process.
"The Returning Officer had declared RJD candidate Shakti Singh from Hilsa assembly constituency as winner by 547 votes. He was told to wait for issuing the victory certificate. But then the Returning Officer receives a call from the chief minister's residence and the officer suddenly says the RJD candidate has lost by 13 votes due to postal ballots being cancelled," the party alleged in a tweet.
Lok Janshakti Party president Chirag Paswan described the Bihar polls results as a "victory" of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying THE people have shown their trust in him. With his party winning only one seat while being instrumental in the defeat of the BJP's ally JD(U) in many seats, Paswan tweeted that he was "proud" that his party did not bend down for power. His party had won two seats in the 2015 polls.
"All LJP candidates fought gloriously on their own without any alliance. The party's vote share has increased. It had gone to the polls with the resolve of 'Bihar first Bihari first'. It has been strengthened in every district. This is bound to benefit the party in the future," he said, while thanking people. The LJP received 5.68 per cent of votes while contesting on nearly 140 seats in the elections to the 243-seat Bihar assembly. (PTI)
At 2.15 am, the Election Commission has declared the result of 237 of 243 total seats for Bihar Assembly elections. The NDA is leading by a small margin, with the BJP ahead in 74 seats (winning 71 and leading in 3), and its alliance partner JD(U) behind with 43 seats (winning 41, and leading in 2).
The RJD is emerging as the single-largest party winning 74 seats and leading in 1, while the Congress, which contested 70 seats, has won only 19 seats.
With the three Left parties bagging 13 seats and leading in three others in Bihar, CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury warned naysayers against writing them off, saying they would have notched up higher numbers in the elections had they been given more seats.
As of 11.50 pm, the CPI(ML) had won nine of the 19 seats they fought on and were leading in three others. The CPI(M), which competed on four seats, has won two, while the CPI had also won two of the six it contested. The Left parties contested 29 seats in the Bihar Assembly elections.
"We were clear from the beginning that we have to defeat the BJP. Our strike rate in Bihar is 80 per cent and if we had been given more seats, we would have contributed more to the gathbandhan tally," Yechury told PTI.
"Our alliance with the RJD and Congress combined issues of social justice with that of economic justice. One cannot be achieved without the other," he said.
Many in the party had questioned RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav over what they called "disproportionate concessions to the Left, particularly to the CPI(ML)". However, the calculations triggered by the state's socio-political dynamics and the cadre strength of the Left parties seem to have worked.
Manoj Manzil, a Dalit firebrand leader from Bihar, on Tuesday clinched victory from Agiaon Assembly seat in Bhojpur region. The CPI(ML) candidate defeated JD(U)’s Prabhunath Prasad by a margin of 48, 550 votes.
As per reports, Manzil, whose parents still work at a brick kiln, had been arrested on October 8, soon after he filed his nomination. Police had arrested Manzil in relation to a case related to obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions. He was lodged in Arrah jail before he was granted bail a few days later.
The Dalit leader had contested from the same Assembly seat during the 2015 elections too. He, however, ended up being in the third position at the time. This time, fighting in alliance with RJD boosted Manzil’s chances. RJD leader and Grand Alliance’s chief ministerial candidate Tejashwi Yadav had also campaigned for him in Agiaon constituency.
RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav won his Raghopur seat by a margin of over 38,000 votes in the result announced late Tuesday night. According to the Election Commission, Tejashwi defeated Bharatiya Janata Party's Satish Kumar by a margin of 38,174 votes.
Tejashwi, who was also the Mahagathbandhan's chief ministerial candidate, had won the Raghopur seat, a pocketborough of the RJD, on his poll debut in 2015 too when the victory margin was 22,733 votes. LJP candidate Rakesh Raushan bagged nearly 25,000 votes in the seat. Tejashwi's elder brother Tej Pratap Yadav also won from Hasanpur seat by over 21,000 votes.
The RJD had alleged irregularities in the counting of votes for Munger constituency where BJP's Pranav Kumar is leading by a small margin.
The last leg of the counting process in the Bihar elections is currently underway, and the final tally is expected to be declared in another hour, the Election Commission said in a late-night press conference.
The Election Commission in a late-night presser said counting had been completed on 223 seats in Bihar, with 20 seats were left. Of these, EVM counting was left on 17 seats. It said the final tally was expected in another hour
Today is a historic day that NDA has won again the extraordinary trust of the people of Bihar. They trusted PM Modi's leadership whose commitment resonated with them that without development of Bihar, development of India will remain incomplete: Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad
As per the Election Commission, results of 218 seats have been declared so far.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday complimented the people of Bihar for electing the NDA in the just concluded assembly elections, saying the people of the state have chosen development over "hollow politics, casteism and appeasement".
In a series of tweets in Hindi, Shah also said that the victory of the NDA was the win of the "double engine" development of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
"Every section of Bihar has once again chosen the development of NDA by denying hollow politics, casteism and appeasement politics. I thank all the brothers and sisters of the state from the core of my heart for re-choosing development, progress and good governance. I especially thank the youth and women who formed the NDA government with absolute majority by choosing security and a bright future in Bihar," he said.
In his first remark on the election results, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said people of Bihar have given their 'decisive decision for development'.
"Bihar has taught the world the first lesson of democracy. Today Bihar has told the world again how democracy is strengthened. A record number of poor, deprived and women of Bihar also voted and today have also given their decisive decision for development," PM Modi tweeted.
"The blessings for the NDA's good governance even after 15 years in Bihar shows what Bihar's dreams are, what Bihar's expectations are," the PM said, adding that the youth made it clear that this new decade will be for Bihar.
"I again assure every citizen of Bihar that for the balanced development of every person, every region, we will continue to work with full dedication," he added.