After sweeping back to power in Delhi, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has set an ambitious target of winning more than 225 seats in the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections. The polls, expected in October-November, are already shaping up to be a high-stakes battle as the NDA looks to capitalise on its recent momentum.
Tarkishore Prasad, senior BJP MLA and former deputy chief minister of Bihar, expressed confidence that the NDA would retain power in the state. His optimism was echoed by Union Minister and Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) leader Jitan Ram Manjhi, who described the Delhi victory as a precursor to what lies ahead in Bihar. "Dilli toh jhanki hai, Bihar abhi baaki hai... Jai NDA (Delhi is just a glimpse, Bihar is yet to come)," Manjhi tweeted.
However, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) dismissed these claims, asserting that the Delhi election results would have no bearing on Bihar. RJD spokesperson Mritunjay Tiwari said Bihar’s electorate would seek change, pointing to the Jharkhand election outcome as a more relevant indicator. "People in Bihar will vote for change. The results in Jharkhand will have an impact here. The Delhi election will not affect Bihar," Tiwari said.
The upcoming Bihar elections will be a crucial test for the NDA, which benefited significantly from Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's return to the alliance ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. The NDA had secured 30 out of 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar, boosting its confidence ahead of the state elections.
BJP leaders believe that the Delhi win, combined with the impact of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s budget announcements for Bihar, will help the NDA maintain its stronghold.
The BJP’s decisive victory in Delhi, where it won 48 of 70 seats and ended the decade-long reign of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), has boosted the party’s morale. In a major upset, AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal lost his New Delhi seat to BJP’s Parvesh Verma. The Congress, meanwhile, failed to secure a single win, drawing a blank for the third straight election in Delhi.
(With inputs from Rohit Kumar Singh)