BJP-led NDA sweeps Bihar, RJD set to draw a blank

The NDA inflicted a body blow to the four-party 'grand alliance' on Thursday, winning 27 of the state's 40 seats and leading in 12 others.

Mohammed Javed of the Congress was the only candidate of the 'Mahagathbandhan' who won. He defeated Syed Mahmood Ashraf of the JD(U) by a margin of over 34,000 votes in Muslim dominated Kishanganj seat.

The RJD, the main opposition party in the state assembly, was totally decimated and even failed to to open its account. The party had won four seats in 2014.

Prominent winners included Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, who trounced his Congress rival Shatrughan Sinha by over 2.84 lakh votes from Patna Sahib. Sinha, a strident critic of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah, was a two-term MP from the seat, and had shifted to the Congress just ahead of the polls.

Union minister and firebrand BJP leader Giriraj Singh retained the Begusarai seat for his party, trouncing his nearest rival Kanhaiya Kumar of the CPI by a staggering margin of over four lakh votes.

Singh had moved to Begusarai from Nawada after initial reluctance over having to give up his sitting seat.

Kanhaiya Kumar, who first shot to fame after being booked in a sedition case while he was the president of the JNU students union, polled 2.68 lakh votes.

Union minister Raj Kumar Singh and his ministerial colleague Ashwani Kumar Choubey won their respective Lok Sabha seats of Arrah and Buxar.

Singh retained the Arrah Lok Sabha seat, defeating his nearest CPI(ML) rival Raju Yadav by a comprehensive margin of 1.41 lakh votes.

Choubey retained the Buxar Lok Sabha seat defeating RJD veteran Jagadanand Singh by a margin of 1.15 lakh votes.

Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh retained his East Champaran seat, drubbing his nearest RLSP rival Akash Singh by over three lakh votes.

RLSP chief Upendra Kushwaha, a member of the union council of ministers before he quit the NDA and joined the grand alliance, was trailing his JD(U) rival Mahabali Singh in Karakat.

Another Union minister Ram Kripal Yadav has established a lead of over 38,000 votes over his RJD rival Misa Bharti in Pataliputra seat. Bharti is the eldest daughter of party supremo Lalu Prasad.

Former Union minister and senior Congress leader Tariq Anwar lost his Katihar Lok Sabha seat to JD(U)s Dulal Chandra Goswami by a margin of about 57,000 votes.

In Samastipur, Lok Janshakti Party candidate Ramchandra Paswan defeated Ashok Kumar of the Congress by over 1.5 lakh votes.

Anwar, who returned to the Congress last year after a gap of nearly three decades, had represented the seat four times in the 1980s and 1990s before he severed his ties with the party and floated the NCP along with Maharashtra stalwart Sharad Pawar and Meghalaya leader PA Sangma.

LJP leader Chirag Paswan won from Jamui, defeating Bhudeb Choudhary of RLSP by 2,41,049 votes.

Paswan, son of LJP president Ramvilas Paswan won the Jamui (SC) seat for a second time.

The LJP, a constituent of the BJP-led NDA, contested six seats and won all.

Chastened by the partys worst-ever drubbing since its formation about three decades ago, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav thanked his workers and allies in the Mahagathbandhan for putting up a brave fight.

He vowed to make a comeback while remaining steadfast in the principles laid down by Mahatma Gandhi, Ram Manohar Lohia, Jayaprakash Narayan and Karpoori Thakur.

The party, formed by Yadavs father Lalu Prasad in 1997, currently has the largest number of legislators in the state assembly but is set to draw a blank as none of its 19 candidates appears likely to win.

Heartiest congratulations to Narendra Modi with due respects to the popular mandate. Hope the Prime Minister will pay adequate attention to jobs, agriculture and economy in his fresh tenure and live up to the expectations of the people, Yadav, who has taken over as the partys de facto leader in the absence of his father, said in a statement.

I also commend my party workers and allies in the Mahagathbandhan for having put up a brave fight in the elections. We will analyse the poll results and brace for the great battles that lie ahead while remaining steadfast in the principles of Gandhi, Lohia, Jayaprakash Narayan and Karpoori Thakur, the RJD leader, who is the leader of the opposition in the state assembly, said.