Woes for Chirag Paswan continue as Bihar's lone LJP MLC Nutan Singh joins BJP

In another blow for Chirag Paswan on Monday, LJP's lone MLC Nutan Singh joined BJP at its party headquarters in Patna. Attributing the BJP switch to her husband Neeraj Kumar Singh's presence in the JP Nadda-led party, Nutan Singh expressed happiness that both of them can work together. This development comes days after 200 disgruntled LJP workers and leaders joined JD(U). There was further unease in the LJP camp after its only MLA Raj Kumar Singh and Nawada MP Chandan Kumar separately called on Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

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LJP dents JD(U)'s prospects in Bihar

An NDA ally since 2014, LJP decided to contest the 2020 Bihar Assembly polls separately owing to ideological differences with JD(U). During the election campaign, he repeatedly asserted that LJP and BJP will form the next government in Bihar. Reiterating his affection for the PM, the LJP president said that he was the PM's Hanuman. This set rumour mills abuzz about BJP's alleged tacit understanding with LJP to marginalise JD(U) within the alliance. Ultimately, the Bihar polls turned out to be a nail-biting contest with NDA emerging victorious in 125 seats as against that of 110 seats won by the Mahagatbandhan.

BJP, RJD, JD(U), Congress won 74, 75, 43 and 19 seats respectively. With 4 seats each, VIP and HAM (S) had a crucial role to play in the ruling alliance breaching the majority mark. Similarly, AIMIM made a huge mark in Bihar politics as 5 of its candidates were declared winners. While LJP managed to bag just one seat with a vote share of 5.66%, a closer look at its performance suggests that it foiled JD(U)'s chances of emerging as the single-largest party. As per the EC data, LJP secured more votes than the winning party's victory margin over JD(U) in the aforesaid 32 constituencies. This essentially implies that JD(U)'s chances of potentially winning these seats would have increased manifold if LJP remained a part of the NDA alliance in Bihar.

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