NDA sweeps Bihar with 39/40 seats, Mahagathbandhan routed

Patna: The rout of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), which led the Mahagathbandhan in Bihar, has been the biggest shock in these elections.

The Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has swept the state, bagging 39 of the 40 seats, while the Mahagathbandhan parties — RJD, HAM, VIP, RLSP — have all been completely decimated.

While allies BJP and Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) won all the 17 and six seats they contested on, their third partner, the JDU, lost its Kishanganj seat to the Congress.

The biggest upset has been for jailed former Union Minister Lalu Prasad, RJD could not manage even a single seat amid family bickerings. This is the first time that the RJD will not have a single member in the Lok Sabha.

The other Mahagathbandhan parties were also crushed by the BJP storm.

Union Minister Upendra Kushwaha-led Rashtriya Lok Samta Party (RLSP) lost all the three seats it won in the 2014 general elections. The RLSP contested the last elections as an NDA ally, but changed sides this time to join the Mahagathbandhan and secured a dud. Kushwaha lost from both the Ujiarpur and Karakat parliamentary constituencies.

Likewise, the Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) and Jitam Ram Manjhi-led Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) also even open their account.

Published on: May 24, 2019 at 12:39 IST

IANS