Rubbing it on the BJP for its humiliating defeat in the Bihar Assembly polls, the Shiv Sena said on Sunday that Nitish Kumar had emerged as a “Mahanayak” (great hero) on the Indian political scene and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, under whose leadership the BJP had fought the Bihar polls, should accept the electoral defeat.
On a day when Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray telephoned and congratulated Nitish Kumar on the JD (U)-led grand alliance’s “resounding” victory in the Assembly polls, Sena spokesperson Sanjay Raut did some plain speaking when he said that the Bihar poll outcome would give a new direction to the country’s politics and that if elections were held in Maharashtra today, the results would be a repeat of the Bihar poll outcome.
Talking to mediapersons here, Raut said: “This is very big victory for Nitish Kumar. Nitish Kumar has emerged as a “Mahanayak” (great hero) in the country’s politics. Since we also contested the Bihar polls, we witnessed happenings there. It was Bihar’s need of the hour that Nitish Kumar should win the elections”
“When we were there as a contending party, we had said that Nitish Kumar has done good work in the State. We had also said that the people wanted him to become the Chief Minister once again. The people have given a mandate to that effect,” he said.
“On behalf of the Shiv Sena and party president Uddhav Thackeray, I would like to congratulate Nitish Kumar. I feel that the Bihar Assembly poll outcome will take Indian politics in a new direction,” Raut said.
Asked why the Bihar poll outcome should not be construed as the defeat of Modi, Raut said: “See elections are fought in the name of leaders. When the Congress lost, Sonia Gandhi accepted the defeat. When RJD lost in Bihar, it was considered as the defeat of lalu Prasad Yadav. Now the current elections were fought in the name of Modi, the BJP should accept that it is his defeat. Earlier when the BJP had won the elections elsewhere in the country, the party had credited the victories to Modi. In the case of defeat, the leader should accept the defeat (in Bihar) like we also do when face defeat”.
Asked if the BJP should do introspection over its defeat, Raut said sarcastically: “The BJP does not need to do any self-introspection. Because, all its leaders are very intelligent, a thing we saw in Maharashtra. But, I would like to tell you one thing that if elections are in Maharashtra today, the results will be a repeat of the Bihar poll outcome”.
Congratulating Nitish and other party leaders of the JD (U)-led grand alliance for its superlative victory in Bihar Assembly polls, NCP president Sharad Pawar said: “The BJP’s defeat in the Bihar Assembly polls comes on the heels of its debacle in Delhi elections. The people have rejected the BJP for its communal politics and its false promises made during its campaign”.
“After the Bihar poll outcome, the country’s politics is witnessing an anti-BJP atmosphere. The people of Bihar have given a new direction to politics in the country,” Pawar said.
Maharashtra’s former Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Ashok Chavan said that the Bihar Assembly poll outcome marked the beginning of the process of a change in the country’s politics.