The people of Bihar have given the Janata Dal (United), Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Congress combine a decisive victory in the State. The result comes a year and a half after the Lok Sabha elections that had seen the combine fare quite badly in the State, a result that had forced the then Chief Minister of the State, Nitish Kumar, to quit and hand over the reins of the State to another MLA. But he didn’t stay away from the post for long. He returned as chief minister a few months before the State assembly election and led the combine to this remarkable victory, ensuring he stays in the saddle for the next five years.
For the people of Bihar this result is an endorsement of the governance of Nitish Kumar, for the rest of the country it is a rejection of the politics of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) at the Centre. It is a vote against the aggressive Hindutva politics that the country has been witnessing for the past 18 months since the NDA government has been in power. The 18 months have given rise to a growing intolerance of free thought and free speech in the country. The NDA government at the Centre has been unable to keep in check its own people from making controversial statements that have led to insecurity among the minority committees. After the historic victory of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Delhi in February this year, this victory of the JD(U)-RJD-Congress combine will give the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lots to introspect, especially that though it got a majority in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections it won just 31 percent of the vote.
BJP has been the biggest loser in this election. Not only has it popularity dipped in a national perspective, its tally in the Bihar Assembly has also fallen to 53 seats from the 91 seats it had won in 2010. Some of its leaders have already said that there are lessons to be learnt, but more importantly the lesson should lead to the party amending its ways. Only then will the lessons of this election have made any impact in the BJP.
Looking at the bigger picture and with the future of Indian politics, this result also props up Nitish Kumar as an alternative to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He has successfully led his party and combine in the State to a successfully victory in an election that media had dubbed as the mother of all elections. It gives the loose Third Front the boost it needs. These elections are a precursor to the Assembly elections in major states of West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Assam next year and then in Uttar Pradesh and Goa in 2017.
For the BJP in Goa, the result in Bihar is a wakeup call. After the 2014 Lok Sabha election where it won both seats in the State, it has seen its popularity falling this year and this has been proved by the results of the elections for the Zilla Parishads in March this year and for the 11 municipal councils last month. Across Goa there is a feeling that BJP has let down the electorate and while the party may ignore this, it cannot blind itself to the result in Bihar, which unequivocally states that the BJP wave is ebbing. As BJP returns to the drawing board in Goa, the many that are resisting the divisive politics of the party will be spurred by this election result to take their fight to another level. Secularism has won in Bihar, it now has to win in Goa.
