NDA, INDIA bloc wait with bated breath as Bihar readies to count votes

Patna:

The political blood pressure in Bihar was equally high in both the ruling NDA and the opposition Mahagathbandhan camps on eve of the D-Day of Bihar assembly poll results on Friday.The record high voting percentage, especially of women, in the two-phased assembly polls left both blocs perplexed and leaders said they have their fingers crossed.Many INDIA bloc leaders stayed at home, taking feedback from the ground, while others visited temples, seeking blessings by offering ladoos, before converging for a meeting with Tejashwi Prasad Yadav at his residence.Barring his brief visit to the JD(U) war room near his official residence on Thursday afternoon, CM Nitish Kumar made no other public appearance on the eve of the counting day.His party is, however, positive about returning to power once againBut some palpable tension in the opposition camp was evident on Thursday as

RJD

MLC Sunil Kumar Singh, who is considered close to his party’s first family of Lalu Prasad, threatened a “Nepal-like uprising in the event of any administrative bungling in the counting of votes,” while citing the example of a few seats which RJD lost by a narrow margin in 2020.In comparison, the JD(U) spokesman

Neeraj

Kumar remained calm, while listing four such seats, which his party candidates had lost by less than 1,000 votes in the same election.BJP state president Dilip Jaiswal said the RJD leader’s statement showed their frustration of defeat. “Such statements are an insult to the public and voters,” he said.Later, police filed an FIR against Sunil Singh for provoking and threatening peace on social media ahead of polls at the cyber police station.

“Whichever way the scale tilts, one thing is certain that caste and cash bridged the narrow gap between a vote for change and that for continuity of the NDA govt and played a decisive role in the elections held on Nov 6 and 11,” a senior NDA leader said.Some analysts believe that the transfer of Rs10,000 each to around 1.5 crore Jeevika Didis by the govt before the elections played a crucial role in favour of the ruling dispensation, if the NDA wins.That logic is based on almost 8% higher women turnout than men in this election. If the Mahagathbandhan wrests power, it will be because of Tejashwi’s promise of one govt jobs to each household and cash incentive of Rs 2,500 monthly to women in the state as migration and unemployment were the main poll issues raised by the opposition. While the BJP-JD(U) hopes for a better result than in 2010 when they won 206 out of the 243 seats in Bihar assembly, RJD is confident that its leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, is going to be the next chief minister of Bihar.The results will also prove whether Nitish Kumar still carries the weight to tilt the electoral scale in favour of the side he is with or has lost that caste chemistry for which he is known. Whether the NDA retains power or the RJD-led Mahagahtbandhan, the results will decide the future course of both RJD’s Tejashwi Prasad Yadav and BJP for a long time to come in Bihar.This is because of the failing health of RJD chief Lalu Prasad, who still commands overwhelming influence on the Yadav and Muslim electorate to the advantage of his son Tejashwi, and CM Nitish Kumar, who may not probably be the NDA CM face in the next elections due to his age factor.