In the run-up to the announcement of the election results, we invariably forget that the exit polling and the insights of journalists do not decide the outcome of the votes, but vote in the ballot box. Purely on the basis of the party-wise share of the seat, the outcome of the elections in Bihar did not make the way the opinion polls expected. Against all odds, Nitish Kumar and the NDA beat the much-trumpeted anti-inflammatory element and retained control.

NDA spokespersons are now believing that the findings are evidence of the government's impressive success over the past three years. As Tiger Woods once said, "winning solves everything," but I would note that winning sometimes obscures one's shortcomings, although temporarily. However a closer glance at the results would suggest that the majority of the voters of Bihar had simply voted against the ruling and more importantly, against Nitish Kumar and the JDU.

The statistical share of the votes of the contending parties will keep me in mind. The NDA obtained just 37% of the votes cast, and so did because it was backed up by the results of the BJP. It is noteworthy that the parties clubbed under the heading "Others" received 25% of the votes. The fragmentation of votes among the different party formations was the key reason for the NDA's electoral victory.

For the LJP, the results are a disappointment, but it would be a mistake to write off Chirag Paswan and his party on the basis of this performance. Nitish Kumar, who had been so disrespectful of the LJP and its president, was given a bloody nose, if not a knock-out blow. The review of the poll reveals that the LJP was instrumental in ensuring the loss of JD(U) candidates in more than 50 electoral districts. But for the Prime Minister’s magic wand in support of Nitish, the JD(U) would most certainly have been annihilated.

It is important to note the personal dimension to this profound animosity. When Ram Vilas Paswan was seriously ill at the hospital, Nitish did not show any worry or concern for his sick colleague.

In his first major foray on the big stage as chief and talisman of his faction, Chirag Paswan caught the attention of the entire country. A doer in the true sense, he served hard as an MP for the residents of his electorate. His rallying cry, "Bihar first, Bihari first has struck a chord with the people of the state, which is mirrored in the LJP's vote share of about 6% in a confusedly multi-faceted field of parties. In politics, setbacks and criticism are part of the territory — and the lessons learnt will make him stronger. A significant indicator of his political relevance is the sustained media focus on him.

In a social climate where caste and community have controlled the political sphere, the stellar success of the Left parties has become a ray of hope for many who yearn for a more democratic world, in sharp contrast to the miserable performance of the Congress. The Left gained 16 of the 29 seats contested against the Congress of 19 out of 70 seats. It is obvious that the poor, the unemployed and the middle class favour the Left to the Congress. There is also a hint that the problems of bread and butter battled for the interest of the electorate against the normal hegemony of money control, caste and Ram Mandir.

Asaduddin Owaisi and AIMIM reigned supreme in the Muslim-dominated regions of the Seemanchal region, capturing five seats and heavily damaging the Mahagathbandhan in 11 others. As a Muslim, I find it extremely disturbing that he is using his immense power over Muslims to make them part of a different political bloc. Its dangerous communal and divisive policy aims to further alienate and isolate the increasingly beleaguered Muslim community.