NDA Got Poll Victory Through Money, Muscle, Deceit: RJD’s Tejashwi

RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav said the mandate was in his favour and that RJD was the real winner.

Tejashwi Yadav, who failed to dislodge the Nitish Kumar-BJP government said that the mandate was in his favour and that RJD was the real winner.

(Photo: Shruti Mathur/The Quint)

Tejashwi Yadav, who failed to dislodge the Nitish Kumar-BJP government, alleged foul play by the NDA on Thursday, 12 November, stating that the mandate was in his favour and that RJD was the winner even if someone else occupied the chief minister's chair.

“We got support of the people but NDA achieved poll victory through <i>dhan</i> (money), <i>chhal</i> (muscle) and <i>bal </i>(deceit).

RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav

“The mandate favoured Mahagathbandhan, but Election Commission’s result was in NDA's favour. This isn’t the first time that this has happened. In 2015, when Mahagathbandhan was formed, votes were in our favour but BJP made a back door entry to gain power,” Tejashwi told at a press conference.

Nitish Kumar Must Give up CM's Chair: Tejashwi

The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has retained power in Bihar with the BJP's 74 seats taking the alliance past the majority mark of 122 in the 243-member Bihar Assembly.

Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal (United) won only 43 seats, ranking third.

“If he has any conscience left, he must give up his attachment to the chief minister’s chair,” Tejashwi said.

“See where Nitish Kumar’s glow has gone. He has been pushed to third position. This is a mandate for change. Nitish Kumar is sitting in the chief minister’s chair but we are in people’s hearts.”

RJD Leader Tejashwi Yadav

“Nitish Ji should stop plotting if he has some morals left. He must respect people’s decision and step down from his position. Earlier, he spoke about his retirement from politics. During his last days in politics, he shouldn't do something disrespectful,” he added.

Tejashwi Yadav's RJD or Rashtriya Janata Dal emerged as the largest party with 75 seats.

“We lost 20 seats by a wafer-thin margin. In many constituencies, as many as 900 postal ballots were invalidated,” alleged Tejashwi, casting doubts on the electoral process.

Yadav drew attention to the established rules of counting postal ballots first before Electronic Voting Macines (EVMs) can be counted, claiming that not all postal ballots were counted.

He demanded recounting of postal ballots in all those constituencies which were counted in the end.

Tejashwi Yadav pointed out that, “It is surprising that the NDA got only 12,270 seats more than Mahagathbandhan, and yet managed to win 15 more seats.”

Tejashwi has been unanimously elected by the 109 Mahagathbandhan MLAs as their leader.