Bihar Elections 2020: Indian Democracy at its Best

Bihar Elections 2020

Clearly it is the victory of democracy. The world has just seen Indian democracy at its best.

The results of Bihar election clearly show some welcome positive signs:

• Corruption remains a big issue, extortion, kidnappings still haunt people in Bihar; the people can not believe that RJD still does not has the shadow of Lalu Yadav’s Jungle Raj.
• Family dynasty is still a big issue. Bihar prefers an NDA like government over family dynastic rule.
• Jobs may not be a big electoral issue. People indeed are emotionally attached with the BJP on the issue of Ram temple and nationalism.
• Fear of Jungle Raj persists even after 15 years, and Bihar has no objection over Nitish Kumar’s leadership.
• The ‘Brand Modi’ is still the most acceptable brand in Indian politics and
• The UP CM Yogi Adityanath too can create public opinion.

Key Takeaways

On most significant takeaway from the Bihar Elections 2020 has been the fact that Exit Poll predictions often go wrong.

Poll promises being awaited to be fulfilled

The ruling alliance, the NDA, in its manifesto for Bihar Elections 2020 has mentioned such promises as:

• free distribution of COVID-19 vaccine after approval from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR),
• 1.9 million jobs in the next five years,
• three lakh teachers by 2021 in schools and higher education institutions,
• one lakh jobs in the health sector, and
• build 3 million pucca homes for the not-so rich people

Only time will tell how serious the writers of such manifestos were.

Meanwhile, there are some ambitious projects pending:

• The Patna metro project, and other mega road projects
• Bridges over the rivers Ganga and Kosi
• Rehabilitation of sick industries

Winners and Losers

Tejashwi Yadav symbolises victory in defeat in an accepted sense of the term. With 75 seats in Bihar Elections 2020,  Tejashwi’s party, the RJD has emerged as the single largest party in the state assembly. The credit must go to Tejashwi Yadav. Hereinafter, it is now safe to assume that he has secured a ‘moral’ win over his friends and foes alike within and outside Bihar. The message is clear now: ‘Never underestimate Tejashwi Yadav.’

Though the NDA has won, its leaders need not take easy anymore. They have to remain on their toes all the time and be more pro-active and aggressive in their acts. This change has now been only due to Tejashwi Yadav, now leading from the front as a strong opposition leader.

All these are signs of India’s democracy working at its best.

Also Read: 10 Lakh Government Jobs: Its Arithmetic and its Magic

Chiraag Paaswan spoiled the party for the ruling alliance. He did no good either to himself or to his party. Prior to  Bihar Elections 2020, his sole stand was to oppose the JDU. But he failed miserably. His party secured 5.66% of votes polled. These votes could have helped the ruling alliance of the NDA in a big way and the results would have been much more emphatic for the NDA, but the outcome  shows a horrible performance of his party, the LJP. In Matihani, the LJP candidate Raj Kumar Singh polled just 29.64% of votes. He somehow managed to secure 333 more votes than his nearest rival Narendra Kumar Singh of the JDU.

The grand old party, the Indian National Congress, contested 70 seats in Bihar Elections 2020. It desperately tried ensure that the elections remains focused on local issues. It had followed the same localized campaign strategy in Jharkhand earlier with the JMM which did bear positive results. But in Bihar, it ended up winning just 19 seats.

How to win an Assembly Election

An assembly constitution of India generally has nearly 250 thousand eligible voters. If a candidate manages to somehow secure 70-75 thousand of votes, then he or she has a very bright chance of entering the State Assembly as a genuine public representative of over 400 thousand people. The table below from the Bihar Elections 2020 results illustrates this point very well.

In view of this, the aspirant must observe some disciplines like:

• Develop a strong, dedicated and loyal member list of at least 50 thousand hard core workers.
• Make generous use of social contacts using media within and outside the constituency
• Make a sincere effort to do some social, philanthropic or community development activities.
• Spend as much time as possible within the region

Welcome to Hilsa

This constituency can be safely presumed as being equally represented by two candidates belonging to two diametrically opposite parties.

Also Read: Bhuiyan canal as impressive as the Taj or the Pyramids: Mahindra

About Post Author

Naleen Chandra

Naleen Chandra, founder of NC Airways based at Patna in Bihar. The author and coauthor of several blog posts. He has worked for more than 20 years in Aviation as an Aircraft maintenance engineer at senior management. He is a keen observer of socio-economic conditions which affect every aspect of the common man’s life. He is a corporate director and investment banker-turned political commentator. Views expressed here are, of course, personal.

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