KC Tyagi, the spokesperson of the Janata Dal(United), on Tuesday explained the drop in the JD(U)’s performance even as votes are being counted in the Bihar assembly elections, saying it was not the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) but the “natural outbreak” which did his party in.
Tyagi’s comments came as early trends showed that the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and opposition coalition led by the RJD were in a neck to neck fight. The NDA, which consists of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Janata Dal (United) or (JDU), Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) and Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP), was leading in 109 seats while the RJD-led Mahagathbandhan or Grand Alliance is leading in 101 seats till 9.40am.
“We were not defeated by the RJD but the natural outbreak. We were held responsible for the bad state that Bihar was in the last 70 years. Even we experienced the agony of migrants coming back but this was not because of the Nitish Kumar government but due the uneven development that took place in the last 70 years. Neither Brand Nitish has ended nor Tejashwi Yadav has emerged as the socialist leader,” Tyagi said in Hindi while speaking to news channel NDTV.
The RJD camp said it was confident that it will get a clear majority and form the government. “We are hopeful of forming the government. Just wait for sometime before the trends come in by 11am,” RJD’s Mritunjay Tiwary said.
Leader of the RJD and Congress have been upbeat with leader of the opposition Tejashwi Prasad Yadav already cautioning his party workers not to engage in any celebratory fire after several exit polls projected Grand Alliance’s win.
Several top leaders of the BJP and RJD were witnessing mixed trends. In the Patna Sahib seat, road construction minister Nand Kishore Yadav is trailing against the RJD candidate and in Kumhrar, the BJP’s sitting MLA Arun Sinha is also behind the RJD candidate Dr Dhramendra. Abdul Bari Siddiqui, a former minister of the RJD, is also trailing from Keoti while other faces like strongman Anant Singh from Mokama is leading in initial trends.
The Bihar assembly elections were held in three phases on October 28, November 3 and November 7. And, the votes are being counted on Tuesday.
