Voters had better image of Bihar than PM Narendra Modi

“I have told party chief Shah to initiate stringent action against those making irresponsible statements and causing damage to the party’s image”, Gadkari said.

Stating that it will acquire “another” turn in the nation’s governmental issues, Sena leader Sanjay Raut also said if races somehow happened to be held in Maharashtra now, comparative results will develop.

Mr Yadav has openly blamed the BJP’s ideological mentor Rashtrya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and its chief Mohan Bhagwat for his comment that quota for backward castes needs to be reviewed.

“The Bihar debacle shows that no lessons were learnt from the Delhi fiasco… consensual character of the BJP has been destroyed”, said the statement.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi suffered a heavy defeat on Sunday in an election in Bihar, India’s third most-populous state, signaling the waning power of a leader who until recently had an unrivalled reputation as a vote victor.

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi had yesterday launched a blistering attack on Prime Minister Modi post the grand alliance’s landslide victory in Bihar, saying it is a defeat of hatred, arrogance and anger. A few regional party leaders expressed bitterness over a campaign that thrust Modi into the spotlight – he addressed more than 30 rallies – turning the election into a referendum on his personal leadership.

When top BJP leaders were busy criss-crossing Bihar on helicopters, Nitish Kumar and workers of his party went knocking the doors of the electorate seeking their vote as part of the direct outreach initiative.

“The BJP was not defeated in Bihar, it committed suicide”, he added.

While Modi lost his dignity during the campaign, Kumar remained dignified and “did not become animal in the battle field”, he said. London-resident Shitesh Prakash, an IIT-Bombay graduate who migrated from Patna in 2001, said: “BJP raising meaningless issues like cow and beef to polarise voters was stupid, and hence it backfired”. “We have to be single-mindedly focused on development, development, development”, said BJP Member of Parliament Chandan Mitra.

This demand has also been backed by former Himachal Pradesh chief minister Shanta Kumar.

But those affected by Modi’s style of functioning continue to look upon him as their mentor. The resounding victory of the Nitish-Lalu combination has also prompted Gogoi to go soft on the state’s main opposition party, All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), which is being led by perfume baron and MP from Dhubri Badruddin Ajmal.