Thaindian News

New Delhi, Nov 24 (IANS) The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Wednesday said that the results of the Bihar assembly elections were a “victory of optimism over despair and victory of hope over fear”.

Senior party leader Arun Jaitley told reporters here that the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) was backed by voters due to its performance during the past five years.

The BJP’s leader of opposition in the Rajya Sabha said the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD)-led government prior to 2005 had created a negative atmosphere in the state and that the Nitish Kumar-led NDA government succeeded in creating a positive atmosphere.

“In the last five years, the way the NDA governed under Nitish Kumar, a great hope has been re-awakened among the people of Bihar. There was earlier a fear under the previous government, now there is optimism. Earlier there was disappointment, now there is hope,” he added.

Jaitley said that the election results would impact national politics. It would prove that “only the NDA is the non-Congress alternative in the country and this election will be a launching pad for the alliance to gain strength”.

“Both opposition parties in the state (RJD and Congress) could not read the mood of people and failed to write the script of this election,” Jaitley said.

He congratulated Nitish Kumar for leading the alliance to a massive victory and said that “people have rejected the notion that only glamour of family politics can win elections”.

Speaking to reporters earlier, he said: “I congratulate the people of Bihar for showing extreme maturity.”

“It marks a new signal in Indian polity. It is a victory of meritorious leadership over dynastic politics,” he said.

Jaitley took a swipe at the Congress, which had fielded its general secretary Rahul Gandhi for campaigning in the six-phase elections, and said: “Our opponents perhaps thought elections are fought only on dynastic policy.”

“This election marks a new beginning for Indian politics. And we hope this trend in Indian politics continues,” he said.