The 'real' reason for the extraordinary victory of the JD(U)-BJP combine led by chief minister Nitish Kumar in Bihar in the recent Assembly election is the preceding 15 years of "jungle raj" of the RJD and the Congress, senior BJP leader LK Advani feels.
He also said it was "good governance" and development that the NDA gave to Bihar in five years which secured for it a renewed mandate.
"But the real reason for the extraordinary victory won by us - with JD(U) winning 115 out of 141 seats it contested, and BJP winning 91 out of 102 seats it contested - was the preceding fifteen years of jungle raj," Advani wrote in his blog, while recalling the Congress' defeat post-Emergency general elections.
He said no one was surprised that the JD(U)-BJP alliance led by Nitish Kumar won hands down in the recent Bihar Assembly elections .
"But what amazed all was that even while the most optimistic assessments about the victory margin were that the NDA alliance would get a two-third majority, the final results were that the Nitish-Sushil combination secured 216 out of 243 seats, which meant 8/9th of the Assembly's total strength," he said.
Advani said though Congress, which went to the Bihar polls this time alone, kept blaming Lalu Prasad and RJD for these 15 years, "but the fact is that for a substantial part of this period, Congress was part of the RJD Government.
"It was the contrast actually experienced by the people between the RJD -Congress tenure and JD(U -BJP tenure which conferred on the NDA such a wonderful landslide," he said.
Advani also said the result of the Lok Sabha elections of 1977 held in the wake of the 19-month Emergency which brought "democracy to the brink of extinction" gave immense relief to the country.
"Those of us who were part of the poll campaign could easily sense the electorate's anger against the Congress party," he said.
No one was surprised that the Congress party lost the polls. But the dimensions of its defeat, particularly in North India, was a surprise for everyone - for both the Congress as well as the opposition. For the Congress Party, the result was a "stunning shock.
"Not only because this was the first time since independence that the Congress Party had been ousted from the Central government but also because in several important states like UP, Bihar, Punjab, Haryana, and Delhi, the Congress had failed to get a single Lok Sabha seat," he said.
