By Prof. Vivek Singh
The result of Bihar assembly election is in line with expectations. Bihar assembly election has given a new direction to the country. Nitish Kumar was the Chief Minister of Bihar for 15 years. Despite this, there was no anger among the citizens of Bihar. Nitish Kumar as the Chief Minister was the first choice after all. The NDA government will again be formed in Bihar under the leadership of Nitish Kumar. Nitish Kumar will be the Chief Minister of Bihar for the next 5 years. Exit polls of almost all the news channels have failed.
In the alliance, BJP got less seats than JDU. Despite this, the BJP won more seats. People have faith in Nitish Kumar but trust in JDU has decreased. The most disappointing result in Bihar election is Chirag Paswan’s party. Chirag Paswan, the chief minister’s dreamer, ended before his political career began.
The future of 3733 candidates for 243 assembly seats has been decided. Of these 3733 candidates, there were only 371 women candidates. Over 1100 candidates were from criminal backgrounds.
The Bihar Legislative Assembly elections witnessed a 55.68% turnout in the first phase. The second phase saw a turnout of 55.70% and the third phase 58%. Low percentage of turnout is beneficial for the ruling party. In Bihar assembly elections 59.70% female voters exercised their franchise while 54.70% male voters exercised their franchise.
For the 243 assembly seats in Bihar, any party needs 122 seats for a majority. The counting of Bihar assembly elections is almost over. Trends have changed in the result. A three-tier security arrangement was put in place throughout Bihar to count the votes. 19 CRPF companies were deployed to guard the counting centers.
Elections for 243 assembly seats in Bihar were held in 3 phases. Voting took place between October 28 and November 7. Voting was held for 71 seats on 28 October, 94 seats on 3 November and 78 seats on 7 November. On 10 November, 55 counting centers were set up for counting.
In the elections, BJP – JDU were on one side and RJD, Congress and Left parties were on the other side from the grand alliance. While Tejashwi Yadav had promised 10 lakh government jobs to woo the people of Bihar, the NDA in its manifesto promised development, free vaccine and good governance. Nitish Kumar also kept trying to woo the public by playing emotional cards. Nitish Kumar called this election his last election. These issues have clearly impacted the Bihar assembly elections.
The grand alliance was shown winning in all exit polls. But the result came apart. There were many reasons behind this. The Mahagathbandhan had no mature leader to show as chief minister. The BJP and JDU continued to narrate the failures of Lalu Yadav’s rule. The Congress was given importance in the Grand Alliance excessively.
According to Bihar Election Commission, there were 7.29 crore voters in Bihar. 5.11 crore voters provide 7 lakh hand sanitizers, 6 lakh PPE kits, 46 lakh masks, 6.7 lakh face shields and 23 lakh gloves to successfully conduct Bihar Assembly elections without any intervention in view of Corona epidemic under 50 years of age. Had gone. More than 1.80 lakh employees were deployed. This time more than 1 lakh polling booths were built to conduct the elections.
The Bihar election this time was completely different from the previous elections in many ways. The Corona pandemic had an impact on elections and election rallies. The elections were fought over development, employment, education, health, roads, electricity, water. Despite this, the caste dominated.
Bihar has been the land of political laboratory. The political of Bihar gives direction to the politics of the country and many states. Muslim, Dalit, Mahadalit, OBC and Savarna cards were fiercely played in Bihar elections. Cultivating the caste equation has been a difficult task for all parties in this time’s Bihar election.
This time the political challenges were equal to both the Grand Alliance and the NDA. While it was difficult to form a caste equation for the grand alliance, victory seemed difficult for the NDA. Chirag Paswan was the attacker on Nitish Kumar. LGP left the BJP. Chirag Paswan’s party contested the Bihar assembly elections alone. In the last election, the Lalu-Nitish duo defeated the BJP-LJP-Manjhi.
Opportunism dominates this time in the Bihar Assembly elections. The defected leaders were in the midst of changing the party till the last moment, despite the election date being announced. As the talk of seat-sharing between the Grand Alliance and NDA partners worsened.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah and the BJP top leadership have made it clear that the chief minister of NDA will be Nitish Kumar. In the election, BJP got more seats or JDU will become Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. Nobody should have any doubt in this.
After the counting of votes, it has become clear that 15-year anti-incumbency did not weigh heavily on Nitish Kumar. Nitish Kumar will be sworn in as Chief Minister again after ruling Bihar for 15 years. Lalu Prasad Yadav, Tejashwi Yadav and RJD’s 15 years long exile will last for at least 5 more years. The decision was to be made by the people of Bihar. The people of Bihar have taken their decision.
(Author is a famous columnist and thinker, Political, Social and Economic Analyst. The views expressed are personal opinion of the author. He can be reached at viveksinghmumbai@gmail.com)
