Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on April 9 expressed surprise over the defeat of many NDA candidates in the recent biennial election to the State legislative council and asserted that the result, which caused the NDA's tally in the Upper House to fall, was not a cause of worry for the ruling alliance.
He asserted that this will have no bearing upon the Assembly by-election next week in Bochahan where he was confident of the BJP nominee's victory. “The Council election was not one in which candidates are chosen directly by the people. Nonetheless, I was surprised to see many candidates who seemed so confident of winning getting defeated”, Mr. Kumar told reporters.
Election was held in 24 seats of the 75-strong legislative council and NDA won 13, more than half the total number. BJP bagged seven seats while the Chief Minister's JD(U) won five. Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party of Union Minister Pashupati Kumar Paras also clinched one seat.
However, the NDA held altogether 20 of these seats previously though the JD(U) was not with the BJP-led alliance when the election was last held in 2015, a fact which Mr. Kumar himself pointed out. “BJP had done well when we were in a different alliance. So these things do happen”, said Mr. Kumar referring to the previous biennial polls which his party had contested in alliance with the RJD.
BJP had then won 12 seats, while the JD(U) had bagged eight. RJD, which could then win only two seats, has this time bagged thrice the number. The JD(U) leader reaffirmed that he will go to Bochahan on Sunday to campaign for the NDA candidate.
The by-election has become a prestige issue for the BJP, which seeks to prove a point after having got the scalp of expelled Minister Mukesh Sahani whose Vikassheel Insaan Party had won the Assembly seat in 2020.
The bypoll has been necessitated by the death of MLA Musafir Paswan, whose son Amar Paswan is in the fray as the RJD candidate. He is banking on the sympathy wave for his father and the strong base that Lalu Prasad's party continues to have despite having been out of power for long.
BJP has fielded Baby Kumari who had won the seat as an independent in 2015 and who, the party claims, was its “first choice” five years later though it had to give up its claim on Bochahan to accommodate the fledgling VIP.
Sahani is not licking his wounds quietly either and has queered the pitch by giving his party's ticket to Gita Devi, the daughter of Ramai Ram, a former Minister and multiple-term MLA whose unchallenged sway over Bochahan ended with Baby Kumari's defeat.
The Chief Minister, who was talking to reporters after garlanding a statue of Emperor Asoka, was asked about the huge function held by the BJP to celebrate the legendary king's birth anniversary.
“There is no historical evidence to ascertain Emperor Asoka's date of birth. But it is widely believed he was born on Ashtami. So, every year, we celebrate it on this day and I make it a point to visit the convention centre named after him and pay tribute to the ancient hero. I think all should celebrate this on the same day”, said Mr. Kumar.
The 3rd century BC ruler has become a cultural icon for the OBCs, particularly the Koeris [Kushwahas] who alongside the Kurmis, the caste to which Mr. Kumar belongs, form the support base of JD(U).
The BJP has been trying to endear itself to OBCs to the extent it is possible keeping its upper caste base intact. The celebration of “Asoka Jayanti” on the previous day was a step in that direction.
