Bihar Council poll victory a ‘gift’ for Modi: BJP

Calls it a precursor to its performance in the coming Assembly elections

PATNA,BIHAR: 10/07/2015: BJP supporters celebrating after party's better performance in biennial election to the Bihar Legislative Council elections, in Patna on 10/07/2015.

Photo: Ranjeet Kumar
 



 

The BJP sees in its success in the Bihar Legislative Council election results on Friday a precursor to its victory in the coming Assembly elections and described it as a “gift” for Prime Minister Narendra Modi who will launch the party’s election campaign with a rally in Muzaffarpur on July 25.

Buoyed by the result that showed the BJP-led NDA raise its tally from five to 13, the party said that the voters have rejected the “grand alliance” between Janata Dal (United) and the Rashtriya Janata Dal and signalled their defeat in the Assembly polls. The grand alliance won 10 seats while one was won by an Independent in the 24-member Council.

The voters for the Council election were drawn from 10 to 15 wards in each of the village panchayats in the State which makes the victory sweeter for the BJP which is normally seen as an urban-centric party.

“The NDA tally has gone up from five to 13 and our main Opposition has slid from 13 to 10. The vote is against arrogance, crime and corruption,” said the party’s national spokesman Shahnawaz Hussain.

“The slogan: Badhta Bihar phir Nitish Kumar (progressive Bihar, once again Nitish Kumar) has given way to Darta Bihar ab nahi Nitish Kumar (Frightened Bihar, no more Nitish Kumar),” he said, adding that this election should be seen as an “opinion poll” ahead of the Assembly election.

“Mission-185”

The party has set for itself a “Mission-185” target for the 243 Assembly seats. A high-profile team led by Union Minister Ananth Kumar and State in-charge Bhupendra Yadav is already involved in canvassing. Recently party president Amit Shah appointed C.R. Patil, Lok Sabha MP from Gujarat, and Pawan Sharma, co-incharge for Bihar.

The Council results are a shot in the arm for the party which is facing flak from the Opposition parties on various scams. The Bihar election is a prestigious election for the BJP if only to prove that there is no disenchantment with the Modi government.

The party will go into the Bihar election with Mr Modi as its ‘face’ and ‘good governance and development’ as its slogan.