Bihar Election Results 2020: KC Tyagi spokesman JD(U) admits defeat by Coronavirus

As Nitish Kumar’s NDA and Tejashwi Yadav’s grand alliance are fighting in a close neck-to-neck competition to occupy Bihar seat of power, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD)’s Tej Pratap Yadav has already taken to Twitter with a proclamation of “Tejashwi Bhava: Bihar!” instilling confidence in supporters that his brother, Tejashwi Yadav, will be Bihar’s next chief minister.

As the NDA were pushed back by the opposition in the initial hours of counting, JD(U) spokesperson KC Tyagi told a news channel that his party was not defeated by the RJD but the “nation’s curse (COVID-19)”. “We welcome people’s decision. We were not defeated by RJD or Tejashwi Yadav but the nation’s curse (COVID-19). We are trailing only because of COVID-19. We are paying for past 70 years of deterioration in Bihar, ” the senior JD(U) leader said. “Neither the brand Nitish has disappeared nor Tejashwi Yadav has been established. It is worth mentioning that in the trends that have come from Bihar till now, explicate a close fight between the NDA and the grand alliance. The competition is so close that it is very difficult to make any guesses about the result,” Tyagi further said.

Advertisement

Tyagi also put the blame on Chirag Paswan-led LJP which played the role of “vote katua” in the elections. Reaction from Tyagi came after initial trends showed the grand alliance taking an early lead over the NDA.

Interestingly, soon after Tyagi’s comment went on air, party leader Sanjay Singh stepped out of chief minister Nitish Kumar’s official residence to meet the media and stated, “The NDA is forming the government, there is no doubt about it. Nitish Kumar will once again be the chief minister of an NDA government in Bihar. Like I said in the last elections, that Mahagatbandhan (the grand alliance) will form the government (in spite of BJP’s initial celebrations expecting a win), this time too I am predicting a win.”

The COVID-19 crisis and the subsequent lockdown resulted in a massive exodus of migrants from the capital cities located in Indian heartland to their native villages in Bihar. Bihar faced a huge management crisis after witnessing an unanticipated spike in the number of unemployed and the disastrous economic consequences resulting from COVID-19.

Most exit polls predicted Tejashwi’s victory over NDA. While one poll forecast that the RJD-led Opposition alliance could secure a two-thirds majority, another said it would cross the halfway mark with ease. According to pollsters, Chirag Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party would end up with single-digit seats.