Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Manoj Jha on Thursday took a swipe at Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar saying the Janata Dal (United) president “dreams” of retaining the chief ministerial post despite winning “only 40” seats in Bihar assembly elections held in late October and early November.
“Public is indeed the master but see the condition they’ve placed you in. You (Nitish Kumar) dream of becoming CM after getting 40 seats. If you analyse mandate, it’s decisively against you. If you still get the post, only God knows how long will this illusion last,” Jha was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
Jha’s remark comes as the chief minister’s party, which contested in alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as paert of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), secured only 43 seats. The BJP on the other hand managed to win 74 of the 110 assembly constituencies it contested.
Speaking about the electoral win, BJP leader and Bihar’s deputy chief minister Sushil Modi said that very few people get the chance to become chief minister for a fourth term and thanked the people for supporting the NDA alliance. “I thank the people of Bihar that they expressed their faith in NDA for the fourth time. It’s not ordinary. In Indian politics there are very few CMs whom people trusted for the fourth time,” he said.
In all, NDA partners – BJP, JD(U), Vikassheel Insaan Party, and Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) – together won 125 seats of the 243 assembly constituencies whereas the RJD-led Grand Alliance failed to cross the majority mark of 122 seats as it won on 110 seats. Tejashwi Yadav’s RJD, however, emerged as the single-largest party securing 75 seats.
