The results of the Bihar Assembly elections show stark differences in the strategies adopted by each party—and which ones worked better than the rest. For the BJP, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s charisma and Bhupendra Yadav’s determination helped in turning the situation in the party’s favour.
The strategy that the BJP adopted after the first phase of voting for the Bihar elections has turned out to be quite effective. It dashed the hopes of the ‘Mahagathbandhan’ to wrest power away from the NDA in Bihar. The way the BJP turned the tables on the Opposition will have far-reaching implications. The Bihar poll results bear testimony to the fact that the charisma of Prime Minister Narendra Modi continues to be like before, which will be benefiting the BJP in West Bengal next year as well.
It is clear that PM Modi and BJP strategists did not lower their guard at any point during the election. On the contrary, the Congress could not keep pace with what the situation demanded, which cost Tejashwi Yadav dearly. It reminds one of the SP’s alliance with the Congress in 2017 for the UP Assembly polls when Akhilesh Yadav had to face a drubbing.
The Bihar results would be a matter of serious concern for the Congress. The grand old party’s performance in the bypolls in various states, including Uttar Pradesh, has been disappointing too. Meanwhile, the BJP had tremendous success in the bypolls, with the party performing very well in MP, UP and Gujarat.
With regards to Bihar, the BJP has helped Chief Minister Nitish Kumar immensely. There is no doubt about Nitish Kumar being retained as Chief Minister again, but what will be interesting to see is whether he will complete full five years as CM.
This is so because BJP now has the role of “big brother”. And the saffron party might be looking for the leadership of the government in the state. Experts believe that BJP might be thinking about a change of guard in Bihar after the UP elections in 2022. At that time, the elections for President and Vice President will also take place.
The Bihar poll outcome can be seen as a stamp of approval by the public on PM Modi’s “Aatmanirbhar Bharat” and other decisions. It has also indicated that the road ahead for the Opposition is going to be more difficult. The NDA’s success is going to have its bearing on assembly elections of half a dozen states next year, with West Bengal being the first one where BJP may be immensely at an advantage.
After the exit of the Shiv Sena and SAD, the BJP was under pressure, due to which it accepted the JD-U’s leadership in Bihar and Nitish Kumar was approved as the face of the CM. The BJP put in all it could to save the NDA in the Bihar polls when it realised that Nitish Kumar is finding it difficult to rise to expectations. PM Modi himself took control of the campaign and addressed over a dozen rallies, targeting more than 100 seats.
Senior BJP leader and Bihar in-charge, Bhupendra Yadav, emerged as a big strategist for the party. He was firm on the government formation in Bihar from day one and did not change his determination even after the exit polls.
What the BJP did after the first phase of voting was that it targeted 7-8% neutral voters and also kept its focus on women voters. Moreover, the PM made it a point to talk about his key decisions, including the abrogation of Article 370 and the steps taken to deal with the coronavirus, which benefited the BJP a lot. But Tejashwi Yadav continued to raise local issues—and he also got its benefits. But what Congress did was its own strategy. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and others continued to target PM Modi. Congress’ performance was disappointing due to its weak strategy and inefficient candidates. This resulted in a loss for Tejashwi. Thus, the Bihar result has demonstrated how Rahul Gandhi has been unsuccessful once again.