Be calm, Nitish tells Lalu on verdict eve

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Widely believed to be heading to a comfortable victory in Bihar’s just-concluded Assembly polls, chief minister Nitish Kumar displayed his characteristic equanimity as he spoke a day before votes are counted to unveil the shape of government that steers the state for the next five years.
The 59-year-old politician, a former Union railway minister and one with roots in socialism, on Tuesday indicated without using too many words that his ruling Janata Dal (United)-Bharatiya Janata Party alliance may be entering a boom time in Bihar and that the main Opposition RJD-LJP combine’s bubble may be about to burst. Before chairing the last Cabinet meeting of his outgoing government, Mr Kumar advised arch rival and RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav not to be miffed at the media for the exit poll surveys that predicted the return of the NDA to power.
“Laluji has been the posterboy of the media for a long time. No other politician has got so much coverage in the media as he has. But he has done little for Bihar’s people. Tomorrow’s result will speak volumes. Laluji’s worries will only grow after the verdict is out,” said Mr Kumar, referring to Mr Yadav’s outspoken criticism of the media in the wake of the exit poll surveys.
Mr Lalu Prasad Yadav, confident of the RJD-LJP’s victory, had seriously questioned the media’s credibility and even alleged that some journalists had been offered Rajya Sabha seats to write in favour of Mr Nitish Kumar.
Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting, the 236th since Mr Kumar assumed power on November 24, 2005, decided to recommend to governor Devanand Konwar to dissolve the state Assembly, the state’s 14th Vidhan Sabha whose term expires on Wednesday.
Mr Kumar thanked his government colleagues, alliance MLAs and MLCs, and the government employees for supporting his agenda of development with social justice.
Senior BJP leader Nand Kishore Yadav, the NDA convenor in Bihar and health minister, said at the end of the meeting: “It looks like there will not be a gap. We are coming back.”
Counting of about three crore votes cast during the six-phase polls spread over a month would begin on Wednesday morning amid tight security and transparency, said officials at the Bihar election department. The counting will spell out the fortunes of 3,523 contestants — including 308 women, 1,324 Independents, and 956 from unrecognised parties — who competed for the state’s 243 Assembly seats.