In a setback to the recently formed Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance) government in Bihar, chief minister Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal-United lost to the BJP in the Kurhani assembly bypoll by 3,649 votes, in the first direct electoral battle between the two former allies after they broke up in August this year.
Kedar Prasad Gupta of BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) polled 76,722 votes while JD-U’s Manoj Kushwaha Singh got 73,073 votes.
The by-election for Kurhani seat in Muzaffarpur district was necessitated by the disqualification of Anil Kumar Sahni of the RJD, whose party gave up its claim on the seat and backed its new ally JD-U.
In 2020 assembly polls, Sahni RJD had won the seat by defeating BJP’s Kedar Prasad Gupta.
Boost for BJP
This was the third assembly bypoll in Bihar, after Mokama and Gopalganj, since JD-U parted ways with BJP. Since then, union home minister Amit Shah has made at least two visits to the state. BJP has won two of the three seats.
“BJP won against an alliance of seven parties and the VIP, which wanted to play spoilsport. It’s a victory of party’s hard work and efforts put in by one and all,” said state BJP president Dr Sanjay Jaiswal.
“The victory is an affirmation of the people’s faith in the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and a resounding slap on the face of Mahagathbandhan, which came to power by fraud and continues to cheat the masses,” said Samrat Chaudhary, senior BJP leader and former minister.
Former deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi also came out with a video statement taunting the ruling coalition for having made “even RJD president Lalu Prasad’s kidney transplant an emotive issue”.
He also challenged Nitish Kumar, his former boss, to “take moral responsibility for the defeat and resign, just like he did in 2014 when the JD(U) was drubbed in the Lok Sabha polls”.
“It’s a clear message that we don’t need the clutches of Nitish Kumar and the message has gone loud and clear that BJP can contest alone and win,” said party MLC Devesh Kumar.
“For BJP, the victory is a morale booster and will give the party a psychological advantage,” said Nawal Kishore Chowdhary, former head of department (economics), Patna University.
Setback for ruling alliance
The defeat, which has come as a major embarrassment for the GA and more importantly for the JD-U, triggered some voices of discontent within the ruling alliance.
“Prohibition was one of the reasons that led to our defeat as Pasi community members were angry with us,” said Congress leader Ajit Sharma, referring to recent protests from the community against the ban on sale of toddy and arrests. Pasi community members have traditionally been toddy tappers.
Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) national spokesperson Danish Rizwan called it a warning for the Grand Alliance. “If we do not take precautions even now, the consequences will be even worse. Time has come to form a co-ordination committee in the GA and all the parties involved in the alliance should be taken along,” he said.
CM Kumar’s JD-U was guarded in its comment. “We will review with alliance partners as to where we faltered,” said its state president Umesh Kushwaha.
JD-U’s parliamentary board president Upendra Kushwaha said the party should follow people and not impose. “We need to learn a lot from the loss in Kurhani. The first lesson is that we must follow the people and their will and not expect the other way round,” Kushwaha tweeted.
State RJD president Jagdanand Singh said reasons behind the defeat would be reviewed.
Is it going to affect GA unity?
The defeat is likely to mount pressure on Nitish Kumar for a change of guard, as demanded by senior RJD leader Shivanand Tiwary, who had suggested that Kumar should go to ashram.
“The result is a clear indication that NK (Nitish Kumar) model has started giving diminishing returns, be it the governance sector, health, education, social sectors, etc., to name a few. RJD, in times to come, will tell him to leave as he has lost the sheen,” said Chowdhary.
“It’s a definitely an alarm bell for the GA. Nitish Kumar will be under pressure as his credentials are getting weaker,” said D M Diwakar, former director of A N Sinha Institute for Social Sciences.
Diwakar, however, added that bypolls hardly make an impact on general elections. “In fact, it will provide time for course correction,” he said.
