Patna: In a verdict that is bound to have a national impact, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and RJD leader Lalu Prasad on Sunday trounced the BJP to win the bitterly fought Bihar assembly polls and deliver a major blow to Prime Minister Narendra Modi who led his party’s challenge.
In contrast to what most exit polls had said, the Grand Alliance of the Janata Dal-United (JD-U), the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Congress won a whopping 178 of the 243 seats, leaving the BJP and its allies with just 58 seats.
The RJD and JD-U ended up winning 80 and 71 seats each and the Congress 27. The BJP won in 53 constituencies, while its three allies – LJP, HAM and RLSP – bagged only five seats.
