Nitish Kumar backs BJP post Bypoll debacle; says results 'not of much importance'

After BJP, an ally of JDU in Bihar, lost to RJD in a by-election in Bochaha, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday tried face-saver on behalf of the alliance saying, 'it does not matter.' Answering questions at the Janata Ka Darbar, the JDU leader stated that it was the choice of the public for whom they decide to cast their votes in favour of, adding that discussions and debates on the same should be avoided. 

"The last two by-polls were won by us. So what? I have said before that these elections are not of much value. If someone thinks that by winning in one by-election, they have achieved something massive, it is not so," he said, while opining on the results. RJD's Amar Paswan won Bochaha- a seat earlier held by NDA partner VIP by beating his nearest opponent Baby Kumari of BJP by over 36,000 votes. The Bochaha seat fell vacant after the demise of Mukesh Paswan, who had won the 2020 Bihar Assembly election on a VIP ticket.

Rift between BJP-JDU? 

"I do not have much information on what happened in the elections. I have not yet had a conversation with BJP on the same, " Nitish Kumar said. The statement comes as the two allies are at loggerheads over an array of issues, including caste-based census, NDA  leadership in Bihar, liquor ban, and law and order situation. 

Earlier in the day, Tejashwi Yadav, the leader of RJD, had stated that Nitish Kumar 'must be very happy with the results' of the by-polls as he thanked the people of Bochaha for the tremendous victory."This is a victory for the people and the issues. (They were) education, earning, and medicine. Unemployment is at its peak. The people are fed up with the current government whether it is BJP or JDU. Everyone is worried about their own interests," the younger son of Lalu Prasad Yadav had said.