The election results of Bihar have come. NDA has won. The Grand Alliance has lost. Nitish Kumar has become the Chief Minister. But the question is, how did the Grand Alliance lose despite being on the verge of victory? Most of the country’s pre-poll surveys showed the Grand Alliance winning. What are the reasons for the Grand Alliance’s defeat in the Bihar Assembly elections? There are many reasons for defeat.
Not tough economic question from the Government Economic questions were not asked from the Nitish Kumar’s government. The Grand Alliance also did not raise these questions among the public. During the 15 years of governance, how much Nitish Government increased Bihar’s GDP, how much per capita income of people of Bihar increased, how many jobs were given, inflation control, how much FDI came to Bihar, how many companies invested in Bihar, what is Bihar’s ranking in Ease of Business, etc.
Grand alliance does not have face of the Chief Minister
The biggest reason for the defeat of the Grand Alliance was the absence of a mature and effective face as the Chief Minister. The NDA was benefited from this. The NDA had a credible and acceptable face like Nitish Kumar for the chief minister’s post. Tejashwi Yadav has no experience, due to which he fell behind in this race.
The Muslim vote split with Owaisi’s party in Bihar assembly elections. Mostly the Muslim vote would have gone to the RJD, Congress and constituents. The arrival of Asaduddin Owaisi led to the disintegration of Muslim votes, which resulted in the defeat of the Grand Alliance.
Chirag Paswan’s main objective was to weaken the JDU. There is very little in politics that one person should work to harm his party and benefit other parties. Chirag Paswan did the same thing. Chirag Paswan could also work with the Grand Alliance to harm JDU. No concerted efforts were made to bring Chirag Paswan into the grand alliance, otherwise results of the Bihar Legislative Assembly would have been different.
This time, the vote percentage in the Bihar Assembly elections has been very low, which the Mahagathbandhan lost. When there is an anti-incumbency against the Government, the voting percentage is higher. The Grand Alliance could not get people out of the house to vote. If the voting percentage were higher, it would clearly benefit the Grand Alliance.
This time, women vote percentage in Bihar assembly elections is more than men. Women are happier with most of Nitish Kumar’s policies. The high vote percentage of women led to the defeat of the Grand Alliance.
Talk about jobs, nothing about Self-employment and entrepreneurship Tejashwi Yadav talked about 10 lakh government jobs in his election rallies but paid no attention to self-employment nor did he talk about it. Today there is a desire among people for more self-employment than jobs.
One of the main reasons for the defeat of the Grand Alliance was the ‘Modi Magic’. The rallies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi had a huge impact on the election to the Bihar Assembly. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s victory in this Bihar assembly election is definitely bigger than Nitish Kumar’s victory. Had the election campaign of Prime Minister Narendra Modi not been possible, the Grand Alliance would have won the election.
The NDA had a face similar to that of Nitish Kumar, who could be presented to the public as the Chief Minister. In 15 years, Nitish Kumar has done a good job as a Chief Minister. Has given good governance. In contrast, the Grand Alliance did not have a face as an acceptable Chief Minister like Nitish Kumar, which he had to bear the brunt of.
One of the main reasons for the defeat of the Grand Alliance was excessive trust in Congress and giving it 70 seats for the assembly elections. The Congress lost the election in about 73% of the seats. If confidence in Congress was reduced, Congress would be given less seats, then the result of Bihar assembly elections would be in favor of Grand Alliance.
This time, the difference of victory in dozens of seats in Bihar assembly elections was less than 1,000 votes. If Tejashwi Yadav could manage the constituents of the grand alliance and keep everyone united, then the difference of 1,000 votes would have been in favour of the Grand Alliance. The Grand Alliance could have easily won this election.
Somewhere questions are also being raised on the selection of candidates. Special attention was not paid to the selection of candidates. Criteria required for selection were not determined. This also had a negative effect in the form of electoral defeat to the Grand Alliance. The contest in the Bihar assembly elections was fierce. NDA’s victory has not been easy. The credibility of the entire NDA was at stake. Along with the Grand Alliance, the NDA also needs to be vigilant for the upcoming elections like West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh.
(Prof. Vivek Singh)
