Bihar Elections 2020: See-Saw Battle Between BJP, RJD For Single Largest Party! Will Saffron Flag Emerge 'Atmanirbhar' In Bihar?

BJP has been in alliance with JDU for more than 15 years. Even when Nitish Kumar walked out of the Mahagathbandhan in 2017, BJP helped him in returning back to power.

Representative Photo: PTI

As the counting of votes for the Bihar Assembly elections is underway, a neck-to-neck battle can be seen between the Nitish Kumar-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) and Tejaswi Yadav led Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD). With the trends so far, both the parties are running edge to edge, with Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) leading at 73 seats and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) at 75 seats. Meanwhile, both, the ruling party at the center and the single largest party in the state has till now won 6 seats each. For starters, while campaigning for the assembly elections, NDA projected Bihar CM and NDA leader Nitish Kumar in the state as the poster boy, the Grand Alliance projected Tejaswi Yadav. As Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal-United (JDU) can be seen nowhere near the number, currently leading at 40 seats. The battle has become BJP VS RJD. BJP has been in alliance with JDU for more than 15 years. Even when Nitish Kumar walked out of the Mahagathbandhan in 2017, BJP helped him in returning back to power. Throughout the election campaign, leaders from the BJP reiterated that whether JDU is less in number, Nitish Kumar will be the CM. While Nitish Kumar is fighting heavy incumbency, and also battling aggressive allies in BJP and the Chirag Paswan-led LJP, who eventually walked out of the alliance on the poll eve, vowing to unseat Nitish Kumar. BJP is trying to become “Atmanirbhar” in the state, in 2015 the national party bagged 53 seats, while it is currently leading on 73 seats. On the other side, Tejaswi Yadav led RJD, is striving hard to maintain its single largest party status in the state. As of 2015, the party bagged 73 seats and is currently leading on 75 seats. The arch-rivals, in both alliance and as a single party as well, are fighting hard to make a mark. While BJP has contested 110 seats, the RJD contested over 144 seats. With the trends changing every minute, it is still not clear that whether the BJP will become “Atmanirbhar” in the state or RJD will continue to enjoy its single largest party status.