Voters in Bihar appear to be somewhat unimpressed by stardom — with several leading actors failing to make their mark during the Assembly elections. Khesari Lal Yadav, Jyoti Singh and Ritesh Pandey struggled to make their mark on the ballots despite their immense popularity as Bhojpuri artistes.

Local issues, party affiliations and other ground-level concerns appeared to take centre stage in Bihar during the recent election season. Candidates who had banked on their fan base and public visibility did not inspire much voter confidence. It is however pertinent to note that BJP candidate Maithili Thakur (a well-known playback singer) emerged victorious from the Alinagar constituency by a margin of more than 12,000 votes.

What were the poll results?

  • Ritesh Pandey contested from Kargahar on a Jan Suraaj Party ticket. The numbers did not favour him in the slightest (despite popularity as a Bhojpuri artist) — with Pandey polling less than 13,000 votes. The leading candidate from JDU had secured 75788 votes by the end of 25 rounds while the trailing BSP candidate held 48853 votes.
  • Khesari Lal Yadav was fielded as the Rashtriya Janata Dal candidate from Chapra. He was trailing BJP candidate Chhoti Kumari by a whopping 7739 votes after 13 rounds of counting.
  • Jyoti Singh contested the polls as an Independent candidate — emerging as a distant third with 20889 votes after 27 rounds of counting.

Landslide win for NDA

The BJP made a triumphant return to power on Friday — taking a lead in more than 200 seats soon after counting began. Party leaders have since hailed it as a ‘historic’ outcome and lauded the “development-focused” politics of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“This vote is of hope and trust. People have shown faith in Prime Minister Modi’s leadership and his guarantee for development (of Bihar). People of Bihar have seen the NDA’s good governance and the measures taken for their welfare, including for women. They also remember Lalu’s jungle raj. People have shown faith in Modiji, BJP and NDA…I am proud of the fact that our Bihar is today ready to march on a new path of development,” said former Union Minister and Bihar MP Ravi Shankar Prasad.