The NDA’s return to power in Bihar has many takeaways for both the ruling and the Opposition parties. The BJP has scored two goals by one shot: It has come back to power as big brother and it could cut JD(U) to size by drastically reducing its number of seats. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s halo has dimmed. Political observers could see it coming when the Lok Janshakti Party led by Chirag Paswan put up candidates in 137 seats, mostly against JD(U). It was clear to discerning eyes that Paswan would not have taken such a sweeping decision without the tacit support of the BJP. In the process, LJP put up the worst performance since its inception by winning just one seat. Paswan acted like a puppet in the hands of a puppeteer: He strengthened the hands of the Prime Minister and the BJP. It is equally important to note that the NDA has come to power on two crutches – Vikassheel Insaan Party of Mukesh Sahani and Hindustani Awam Morcha of Jitan Ram Manjhi which have four seats each. Withdrawal of support by any one of them could spell doom for the alliance. The NDA’s vote share too saw a drastic fall which makes it more vulnerable this time around.  

In the Opposition Mahagatbandhan, the RJD has a lot to cheer about though the chance to form the government slipped through its fingers. It can take solace as it has emerged as the single largest party in the Assembly, outperforming the BJP. Tejashwi Yadav could take credit that he could take his party, which drew a blank in the last year’s general elections, to a credible level with 24 per cent of vote share, the highest by any party. He can be credited with giving a new narrative during the campaigning by focusing on the youth and the need to generate job opportunities. His promise of generating 10 lakh jobs forced the BJP to counter it by pitching the tent wider with 19 lakh jobs. 

There is a lesson for the grand old Congress party to take home. It is not enough to bargain for a bigger slice of the cake as it did by getting 70 seats to contest. But its poor performance of winning only 19 seats should make it see the ground reality of a cadre-less party struggling to hitch a ride on the back of RJD. Tejashwi took an imaginative decision by adding the Left to the combine, thereby enlarging its base beyond the original MY (Muslim-Yadav) composition. The Left parties proved him right as they won 16 of the 29 seats they contested.

The new government under Nitish Kumar will probably be different from his earlier regimes as he has a big brother monitoring his every move. He has to be watchful of a vigilant and strong Opposition led by Tejashwi Yadav who has set a new agenda of governance during his campaigning. There is also a credible presence of the Left in the Assembly as never seen in the recent past. Ignoring these factors might prove costly for Kumar in his fourth term as Chief Minister.