Focus may sharpen on reforms after NDA’s Bihar poll loss

“People went to Modi looking for a Prime Minister but they found a Lalu in him”, the Begusarai MP said, in a first direct attack on Modi by a BJP leader after the party crashed to a humiliating defeat.

Analysts and economists said that the Bihar election was a wake-up call for the BJP-led government to focus more on reforms and economic development rather than a Hindu agenda.

The two leaders spoke of plans for forging a strong National alternative as an “effective Opposition” to the BJP. It was not a close elections as was predicted by various pollsters, but a crushing defeat of Modi and his party.

Election Commission results showed Modi’s BJP leading in only 52 seats in the 243-seat state assembly compared to 158 for Kumar’s coalition of regional parties, as vote counting continues.

Coming out in support of PM Modi, Rajnath Singh, Naidu and Gadkari said the party won the Lok Sabha elections previous year under Modi’s leadership.

As the Bihar assembly election results started pouring in, veteran Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar made a serious mistake while going through his otherwise admirable election analysis on CNN-IBN.

The triumph of Grand Alliance is believed to be the result of Nitish Kumar’s successful implementation of developmental activities in Bihar and Lalu Prasad Yadav’s anti-divisive campaign.

BJP president Amit Shah also addressed 63 election rallies and camped for over a month in Bihar.

He said: “Well, having said that this will push Bihar back again”.

A few observers believe too much was being read into state-level elections.

The irony of the contestants in both corners of the ring – the Nitish-Lalu combo wearing Lohiate shorts in the blue corner, as well as Narendra Modi and his state BJP gloves in the saffron corner – being a product of, and riposte to, Congress-India synonymism is keen.

After Shatrughan Sinha, J T Singh, Hukumdeo Narayan Yadav and Bhola Singh, the 4 BJP veterans had yesterday issued a joint assertion that demanded a radical evaluate of the debacle and duty fastened for the defeat in Bihar.

“But if the BJP wants to take action against me, I can not stop the party”, he added. “We appeal to all party leaders to observe restraint”, BJP secretary and its particular media section in-charge Shrikant Sharma said in New Delhi. While the NDA has the numbers in the Lok Sabha (Lower House of Parliament), it is in a minority in the Rajya Sabha (Upper House).