NEW DELHI, 23 November 2005 — The party of Bihar strongman Lalu Prasad was convincingly defeated yesterday in state elections.
The wisecracking Lalu, who was accused by opponents of running a “jungle raj” of criminals in the eastern state, conceded defeat of his Rashtriya Janata Dal party hours after vote counting began.
Lalu, who is federal railway minister and whose party is the second biggest in the national coalition, accused opponents “of deceiving the people” and spreading “the misapprehension there has not been any progress or development under us.”
At the same time, he told reporters in New Delhi: “We happily accept the mandate that has been given in the assembly election.”
The opposition National Democratic Alliance of the Janata Dal-United and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was headed for a majority, according to television projections.
The alliance had won or was leading in 147 constituencies out of 243 up for grabs, while Lalu’s party had won or was ahead in just 65, according to early projections.
“I congratulate the citizens of Bihar,” Janata Dal-United leader Nitish Kumar, tipped to be Bihar’s next chief minister, told reporters. “Bihar has voted for development.”
Nitish assured Biharis his government would provide a “secular” government, which would work for development. “We will start functioning from day one. We will work for all sections, irrespective of their religion or caste — Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians and backwards. We have to bring the state on track of development,” Nitish said at his residence.
Candidates from other parties had 31 seats, news channel Aaj Tak said.
Television network NDTV reported similar provisional results of the poll, which was ordered after a February vote failed to produce a clear winner, forcing New Delhi to impose direct federal rule.
Among the losers were state Congress President Sadanand Singh, Sukhda Pandey of the BJP, Vijay Prakash of the RJD and Rajan Tiwari of the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP).
Notable winners included former chief minister and wife of Lalu, Rabri Devi, former BJP state President Nand Kishore Yadav, state RJD President Abdul Bari Siddiki, state Janata Dal-United (JD-U) President Bijendra Prasad Yadav, former minister and RJD candidate Shakeel Ahmad Khan, JD-U’s Puranmasi Ram and Munazir Hasan and LJP’s Pashupati Paras.
Heavyweights set to lose included former ministers and RJD candidates Shivanand Tiwari, Ramai Ram and Chandrika Rai.
“This is a major political earthquake in Bihar,” political commentator Mahesh Rangarajan said. “Voters are looking for a government which delivers.”
Giving full credit to Nitish for the victory, BJP chief Lal Krishna Advani said: “I believe Nitish Kumar’s performance as union minister gave the NDA (National Democratic Alliance) campaign a credibility that there will be dynamism and honesty in a government led by him.”
Although Congress is a little puzzled at its own political calculations having gone wrong, the party is not too disturbed about its alliance with RJD having fared badly. Declining to be named, a senior Congress leader said: “We will no longer be at the mercy of Lalu. He will no longer be able to bamboozle us. His downsizing makes us more powerful.”
The poll losers blamed their reverses on LJP leader Ram Vilas Paswan, who insisted on a Muslim chief minister for Bihar.
Describing verdict as people’s vote for a “change,” Congress spokeswoman Ambika Soni said: “This is the best way to change a government in a democracy.”
