New Delhi: "Why did the BJP lose and the Nitish–Lalu led Grand Alliance won? The BJP had fielded the wrong face of Modi in Bihar. The wrong face is Prime Minister Narendra Modi. They should have fielded the right face Sushil Kumar Modi. Instead of that the BJP went with the face of Prime Minister Modi and they lost it. It was a fight between a Chief Minister and the Prime Minister. It is very unusual in a state election," said Congress MP Mani Shankar Aiyar.
Something similar to this had happened in 1987 in the West Bengal Assembly elections. It was a direct fight between the Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and the West Bengal Chief Minister Jyoti Basu. Rajiv Gandhi added 5% extra votes to the Congress, but Jyoti Basu added 6% votes to the Left Front and comfortably won. The Left Front swept the polls.
The same thing has happened in Bihar now. Instead of allowing or projecting local state leaders, Narendra Modi made it an election between him and Nitish-Lalu combine. That was a big mistake. "In a state election, you need state leaders. You need local faces to win elections in states. State face is very important. By fielding a wrong face, that too Prime Minister Narendra Modi, they lost it," said Aiyar.
"I hope the opposition will learn from Bihar election results. They nation is calling for a united opposition and not different alliances. I agree that the united opposition may not necessarily be led by the Congress.
"For example Nitish Kumar is restricted only to Bihar. He does not have a single vote or seat in Uttar Pradesh or West Bengal. Same applies to most regional parties. They are strong in individual states, but nothing outside. But the Congress will have more. If all states come together, Congress will have more states than the rest. Even in Lok Sabha, our 44 seats are higher than the rest.
"It is a sweep election. I am very proud that I had predicted that in the very beginning. The Modi-Shah duo has been stopped. Bihar has stopped them," Aiyar concluded.
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