The NDA managed to win the Bihar election due to the stellar performance of the BJP. The JD (U) suffered maximum damage, losing many of the seats it held earlier. Even though the NDA won the election, the RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav has emerged as a major player in the state.
The opposition RJD emerged as the single-largest party with 75 seats but the alliance fell far short of the majority mark of 122 in the 243-member assembly.
The Congress turned out to be the weakest link in the opposition, winning only 19 of the 70 seats it contested.
Tejashwi Yadav, at the age of 31, has shown immense maturity and made efforts to take the RJD beyond the Muslim-Yadav vote bank. Though he failed to win the election, he has emerged as a strong opposition leader.
Tejashwi ran a very positive campaign, concentrating on issues like employment, development etc. Even when personal attacks were made on him, he refrained from retaliating and concentrated on developmental issues.
In fact, the way he ran the campaign can be a good lesson for the opposition.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has often used personal attacks on him to draw sympathy from the voters and that has helped him win the elections.
The opposition parties should target him on governance issues and avoid religious issues and refrain from making personal attacks.