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India Politics: Grand Alliance sweeps Bihar with three-fourth of seats
09-Nov-2015

The Bihar Assembly election 2015 followed the template of decisive mandate with a near sweep for Grand Alliance (GA). The GA won 178 seats, i.e., nearly three fourths of all seats in Bihar. In Contrast, NDA could manage to win only 58 seats.

Lalu Prasad’s RJD emerged as the single largest party with 80 seats. However, all three parties in GA had a high strike ratio (seats won vs. contested). In contrast BJP managed to win only 33% of the seats contested with its allies performing poorly.

Opinion polls and exit polls remained inclusive and failed to catch the tide with the lone exception of Axis APM which was most successful in Delhi Election too.

Post May-14, BJP has won four state elections and lost in two. The upcoming election calendar till Mar-17 do not have election in any BJP ruled states.

The lighter election schedule should hold the government in good stead to provide a push to the reform path which may now take a more nuanced course with greater political consensus. This would only be beneficial in the medium term.