The Bihar Election Results are out and the NDA is headed for a humongous win in the state. While the final results are not out yet, it appears likely that the ruling alliance will end up with a minimum of 200 seats. Most Exit Polls had predicted a convincing win for the NDA. However, none of them predicted 200 seats for it.
The Indian National Congress has delivered its worst performance in the state since 2010. It appears almost certain that the party’s seat tally will not even reach double digits. For once, its alliance partner cannot accuse the INC of dragging it down. Because the RJD itself is delivering an equally terrible performance.
Incumbent Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has dispelled all prophecies about his impending doom. Many people had predicted that the JDU could lower the NDA’s tally in the state. Nitish Kumar has proven all his critics wrong.
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The BJP, for its part, has demonstrated once again that the Lok Sabha 2024 results were a blip, nothing more. Maharashtra, Haryana, Delhi and now Bihar. In each of these elections, the BJP has improved its seat tally massively. That has confirmed BJP’s reputation as the most dependable political party in India since 2024.
Apart from all of this, the Bihar Election Results was revealing in a lot of respects. Let’s take a dive into 5 insights that we can draw from these results.
#1: Social Media Pookie campaigns won’t win you elections
One of the major bets the INC has made post the 2024 General Elections is attempting to reinvent Rahul Gandhi as a Gen Z Youth Icon. Towards that end, a paid campaign was launched across social media to paint the 55-year old dynast as a ‘Pookie’. It’s a term that a small coterie of westernised Gen Z youth use to describe someone they find cute.
In addition to ‘Pookie’, fan accounts popped up on social media that described Rahul Gandhi as ‘honky ponky hottie’, ‘daddy’ and what not. There was a very clear effort to turn around his political fortunes by sexualising him for the Gen Z audience. The confirmation that this was not an organic effort became clear when only a few days ago, Rahul Gandhi uploaded a video to his YouTube channel with the thumbnail, ‘Can we call you pookie’?
Unfortunately for the INC, such antics gain you engagement on social media. They don’t win you elections. Ignoring the creepy aspect of sexualising a 55-year old to attract girls less than half his age, it reveals how out of touch the INC truly is.
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The Gen Z who use such lingo are a minuscule minority even in Mumbai and Delhi. You have to be spending too much time inside a social media echo chamber to believe this is a strategy worth more 2 seconds of your time.
Anyway, the chickens are coming home to roost. Any momentum that the INC gained post the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections, they have blown it on such harebrained schemes.
#2: The Sons of Anarchy
Tejashvi Yadav has lost a lot of political currency. He had built quite the reputation for himself going into the polls. Even less than 6 months ago, many people not affiliated to the RJD were talking about a ‘Tejashvi Wave’ across the state. Journalists and Influencers declared that he had finally taken up his father’s mantle. The Bihar Election Results have busted all these myths.
Lalu’s son is embroiled in a tough contest to even win his own constituency in Raghopur. He is trailing BJP’s Satish Kumar by 389 votes after 18 rounds of voting. While he could very well scrape through, RJD contested the Bihar Elections under his leadership. He will have to shoulder the blame for the party’s monumental failure across the state.
In many ways, Tejashvi Yadav is suffering due to his father’s legacy of anarchy. Imagine the horror under Lalu’s rule that even after a couple of decades, non-Yadavs would refuse to elect an RJD Chief Minister. The anarchy of Jungleraj will continue to harass Lalu’s son for the rest of his political career. Perhaps, that is his greatest punishment.
Meanwhile, Tej Pratap is not faring any better. He has contributed massively to NDA’s winning margin in Mahua. LJP’s Sanjay Kumar Singh is leading the RJD candidate by over 31,000 votes after 18 rounds. Tej Pratap has secured 25,000 votes so far contesting as a Janshakti Janta Dal candidate.
#3: Bihar Election Results is a massive Whitepill
Many Indians, especially those on social media, have been concerned with good reason regarding the direction of the Indian Polity. The rise in Caste Politics, Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Jitni Abadi Utna Haq’ (JAUH) rhetoric and extreme socialist tendencies have threatened to derail the Great Indian Growth Story in recent times.
However, the Bihar Election Results have once again demonstrated that Indians are far too critical of ourselves. We ought to have faith in the wisdom of our people. They have once again rejected incendiary politics. They have once again chosen stability over chaos. Prashant Kishor, the RJD and the INC have campaigned majorly on old socialist ideals that held our country back.
And Biharis have rejected them resoundingly for it. Every major state elections since 2024 have confirmed that Indians do not want to go back to a bygone era. Unfortunately, most political parties are still stuck in the ’90s even as Indians have moved on. They still believe caste, regionalism and freebies are enough to win them elections.
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Indians have repeatedly said no. But they just do not wish to listen. Opposition parties will have to rethink their entire worldview to defeat the NDA Juggernaut. All their assumptions have proved wrong in recent elections. The Modi Phenomenon is only a social media phenomenon? The INC gets a lot of engagement too. Has it helped? Of course not.
Caste is the defining characteristic of Indian politics? It is very important, yes. But is caste arithmetic enough to win elections? Of course not. The Indian voter cares about freebies above all? Everyone likes gifts. But is it enough to win? Ask Jagan Mohan Reddy.
Opposition Parties have to develop a new theory for the Indian Voter in the 21st Century. All their models are outdated. If they don’t learn from the Bihar Election Results, they never will. Unfortunately, it is unlikely they will. But it’s probably a good thing for India.
