Taking bouncy steps into what looks like an early celebration mood even before the Assembly polls are over, Bihar’s ruling JD(U) and its ally BJP have busied themselves in dismissing both the RJD-LJP and the Congress as virtual non-entities in the state despite the rigorous campaigns by their top leaders.
Continuing with their repetitive denouncement of RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav as a spent force no longer capable of winning the trust of Bihar’s people, the two ruling parties singled out Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi for ridicule. A day after Yadav said the RJD-LJP would “form a government with two-third majority,” leaders of the JD(U) and BJP on Friday said both Mr Yadav’s and the Congress youth icon’s charisma had failed to move Bihar’s electorate.
The NDA had won 144 seats (JD-U 89 and BJP 55) in Bihar’s 243-member Assembly in the last polls in 2005 against the RJD’s 56, LJP’s 12 and Congress 10. “We could win between 180 and 200 seats this time,” said JD(U) national spokesman and Rajya Sabha member Shivanand Tiwary. “Nitish Kumar is returning to power with a thumping majority. Bihar’s people have reposed their faith in him and the nation looks up to him with hope,” he added.
“The Bihar’s Assembly polls have raised a question mark on Rahul Gandhi’s charisma because it failed to work here the way it did in Uttar Pradesh during the Lok Sabha polls, when he revived the Congress due to Mulayam Singh’s mistakes. When he (Mr Gandhi) spoke in Bihar, it was unintelligible to many... That was due to the Congress’ 44 years of paralysis,” said Mr Tiwary.
He attacked the Congress for its “history of destabilising elected state governments and refusing to share power”.
Jeering at Mr Lalu Yadav and LJP chief Ram Vilas Paswan, Mr Tiwary quipped: “The two were busy sharing portfolios between themselves at a recent meeting.”
BJP leader and cooperative minister Giriraj Singh predicted the NDA’s “historic victory”.