It was only a year ago that Rashtriya Janata Dal or RJD suffered an unprecedented drubbing, failing to win even a single seat in the Lok Sabha polls. Now, it has emerged as the single largest party after the Bihar Assembly Polls, defeat notwithstanding.
The polls also saw the coming of age of Tejashwi Yadav. Earlier, Yadav's ability to lead the party in the absence of his charismatic father and party supremo Lalu Prasad was doubted.
However, the cricketer-turned-politician steeled himself for the struggle ahead and almost single-handedly brought the five-party Grand Alliance surprisingly close to power in a fight where an army of battle-hardened veterans was arrayed against him.
Only 12,270 votes separate Nitish Kumar-led NDA and the Grand Alliance, latest reports say, though the former secured only 15 seats more for a total tally of 125 in the 243-seat legislature. Tejashwi's party lost 20 seats by a slim margin, still ending up as the single largest party with 75 seats.
We got the support of the people but the NDA achieved poll victory through money, muscle and deceit, Yadav alleged on Thursday.
Yadav demanded a recounting of postal ballots in all those constituencies where these were counted at the end, and not in the beginning.
"We lost 20 seats by a wafer-thin margin. In many constituencies, as many as 900 postal ballots were invalidated," Tejashwi said, casting doubts on the electoral process.
He also urged JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar to give up his attachment to the Chief Minister's chair if he has any conscience left.
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