Bihar Election Results: Chirag Paswan's LJP won just one seat.
Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) chief Chirag Paswan has praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the BJP's better-than-expected performance in the Bihar election. He said the results show people's continuing trust on the BJP stalwart. He said his party fought the election well and saw a marginal increase in its vote share.
"Bihar's public has shown their trust on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The results have made it clear that people are still enthusiastic about the BJP. This is Prime Minister Narendra Modi's win," he tweeted in Hindi.
Mr Paswan's LJP won just one seat.
The BJP has won 74 seats. Its main rival, the Tejashwi Yadav-led RJD, has won 75. The ruling National Democratic Alliance has won 125 seats, which is more than the half-way mark in the 243-strong Bihar assembly.
The NDA has made a strong comeback as most of the exit polls predicted an easy win for the opposition alliance.
"All LJP candidates fought gloriously on their own without any alliance. The party's vote share has increased. It had gone to the polls with the resolve of ''Bihar first Bihari first''. It has been strengthened in every district. This is bound to benefit the party in the future," Mr Paswan added.
Mr Paswan's party had quit the NDA because of rift with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. The party fielded candidates against Mr Kumar's Janata Dal United, but spared the BJP.
During campaigning, Mr Paswan had praised PM Modi several times. He even called himself "Hanuman to the Prime Minister".
Many poll pundits have said that Mr Paswan's decision to field candidates against the JDU has majorly contributed to the Nitish Kumar-led party's dismal show. The JDU has won only 41 seats so far.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah tweeted late Tuesday night to thank the people of Bihar for "backing the NDA".
With inputs from PTI