ELECTIONS// Nitish Kumar will continue to be the chief minister of Bihar for another five years after the political group that he led won the recent state elections. The election also saw a bitter defeat for the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who lost to Nitish Kumar.

This election saw the highest voter turnout in Bihar Assembly polls since 2000, with a 56.8 per cent voter turnout in this election. The RJD emerged as a single largest party with 80 seats, followed by the JD (U) with 71 seats, and the BJP with 53 seats. In terms of vote share, BJP came first with 24.4 per cent, followed by the RJD with 18.4 per cent and the JD (U) with 16.8 per cent, while the Congress got 6.7 per cent.

Nitish Kumar has been the Chief Minister of Bihar for almost 10 years nonstop since 2005. He leads the JD (U). After many years of poor leadership, the people of Bihar elected Kumar in 2005. Compared to previous chief ministers, Kumar has tried to build roads, schools and appoint doctors and school teachers in hospitals and schools run by the government. That is why, inspite of a strong effort from Modi, Kumar and his group won the Bihar elections. The Bihar result is also a strong shock for Modi since this is the second big state election that the party has lost after Delhi. With the Uttar Pradesh state elections coming up, next Modi’s political party, the BJP, has reason to be worried.