NEW DELHI/PATNA: From a low of 43 seats in 2020 to a high of 85, an almost 100% jump as the counting progressed on Friday, Janata Dal (United) has delivered a knockout punch to the naysayers and burnished its credentials as a lead BJP ally in a politically crucial Hindi heartland state.The tally will be the second highest for CM Nitish Kumar-led party, which had won 115 seats in alliance with BJP in 2010 in the 243-member assembly in an electoral battle that had annihilated the RJD-led opposition on a scale similar to this election’s.JDU entered the political fray amid rising skepticism over its strength as questions mounted over the health of its mascot Nitish and the virtually non-existent second line of leadership, rooted in its traditional vote bank drawn from sections of OBCs, EBCs and Dalits.Its lowest ever tally in 2020 came largely due to Chirag Paswan-led LJP’s fielding its candidates mostly against JDU, dealing it a hammer blow.Its strong show has opened a narrow path for JDU to make overtures to voting blocs like Muslims and Yadavs who have long been loyal to RJD but will turn increasingly restive as another spell out of power looms for them, with the main opposition party looking at an uncertain future. Muslims have already displayed their thinning patience with MGB by backing AIMIM in substantial numbers in this poll and have maintained some goodwill for Nitish despite his alliance with BJP and their recent protest against his support to the amendments in Waqf Act. BJP, too, in the past has reached out to Yadavs and Union minister Nityanand Rai, a member from the community, enjoys an important position in the party.As JDU prepared for the 2025 poll and for the first time contested the same number of seats, and not more, as BJP, questions were raised whether history would repeat itself and NDA would again have to bank disproportionately on BJP to cross the majority mark.However, it is a testament to Nitish’s appeal that what was considered a vulnerable stage of his nearly five-decade-long political journey sparked a wave of support for him among his supporters, especially women who have benefitted from his multiple schemes, with the cash assistance of Rs 10,000 to 1.5 crore of them being the latest.Steadfast support from BJP, which has also made inroads among JDU’s traditional supporters, has also helped.The regional party’s win on 12 Lok Sabha seats in 2024 made it the second largest ally of BJP after TDP and helped it claw back some of its lost influence as the saffron party lost majority support and had to depend on partners to form the govt at the Centre.JDU’s stupendous performance in the poll, however, has dispelled doubts about its popularity. At the same time, its future is tied to Nitish’s health, though the party has dismissed questions on this count.
