Patna,(BiharTimes): The results of Jharkhand election may not  have much impact on the national politics but it certainly  will matter a lot in neighboring state of Bihar, where  election is due after 10 months.

The results have given enough lessons to all political  parties compelling them to pull up their socks for the coming  Assembly election. The so-called Janata Parivar, mainly led  by two stalwarts of Bihar politics––Lalu Prasad and Nitish  Kumar––have inched closers and their outfits are about to  merge.

Both RJD and JD(U) faced worst drubbing in Jharkhand. RJD  contested 19 seats but could not win a single of them though  it has five MLAs last time. The RJD was supporting the Hemant  Soren government. Even its vote share got reduced from about  five per cent in 2009 Assembly polls to 3.12 this time.

Nitish Kumar’s party JD(U) contested 11 seats and met the same fate. It failed to get even one per  cent votes.Perhaps Nitish was aware of likely results so he  did not go to campaign for party candidates in neighboring  state though he campaigned in Haryana only a couple of  months back. Even their votes put together hardly makes any political  sense. 

It is because of this big debacle in Jharkhand that the  process of merger has further been intensified. They do not  want to split the anti-BJP votes. They have learnt a lesson  that had the ‘secular forces’, that is JMM, Congress, RJD and  JD(U) fought unitedly the BJP-led alliance would not have  come to power in Jharkhand. 

If RJD and JD(U) contest unitedly in Bihar they may pose a  stiff challenge to the BJP. The rank and file of saffron  party fear that the Narendra Modi magic may wane somewhat by  the next Assembly election as it happened even in Jharkhand. 

So the BJP is leaving nothing to chance and is trying to put  up a united front. Party insiders say that the BJP has even  finalized its seat-sharing arrangements with the LJP and RLSP  so that it could start its campaign much earlier.

Though Congress has a marginal presence in Bihar yet it has  the potential to spoil the whole game plan of two Mandal  titans.

However, this time Congress may get due importance in Bihar  in opposition unity though in the past it was often ignored. For the BJP the impact of “Modi wave” may not be the only  factor for them to capture the power in a state where they  were virtually thrown out of the power in a humiliating way  by their own ally. 

Unlike Jharkhand in Bihar opposition unity would be led by  two senior and seasoned politicians Lalu and Nitish Kumar.  The polarization is much stronger here in comparison to the  adjoining tribal state. BJP is yet to win over some new  social segments like OBCs and Dalits in a big way under party  fold.

Now it is clear that saffron party would contest Bihar  election without projecting any party leader as chief  ministerial candidate as there are a number of factions in  the state unit of the BJP.

Jharkhand election results have given fresh enthusiasm to  party workers. Further BJP would have upper hand in ticket  sharing with two allies––LJP and RLSP––who are craving for  large pie.On the other hand Lalu- Nitish combine would face a herculean task to accommodate party  leaders in the election, JD(U) with about 110 MLAs is likely  to play second fiddle as Lalu led RJD with 21 MLAs would  strive to get 120-130 seats. This may force a large scale  dissertation of party leaders towards BJP where at least some  vacancy exists. 

If this process of desertion starts earlier it may jeopardise  the future of the Jitan Ram Manjhi government. The Bihar election would be a real acid test for Modi as well  as BJP. Similarly, Lalu and Nitish are fighting their last  ditch battle for the political survival.