Bihar assembly election: Shiv Sena mouthpiece Saamna heaps praise on RJD's Tejashwi Yadav despite Mahagathbandhan failing to register victory

PATNA: The Shiv Sena leader lavished praise on RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav for exhibiting a 'fighting spirit' despite contesting the election in a 'hostile' situation, and called him the 'Man of the Match' of the polls.

"The young leader fought against the Prime Minister, Chief Minister and central ministers in such a hostile situation all alone and revolved the campaign around himself. The country and Bihar have got such a face in politics on whom we can rely," Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut claimed.

The Sena mouthpiece stated, "We are not ready to believe that Tejashwi has lost the Bihar election. Losing an election is not a defeat and securing more seats by 'jugaad' (unfair means) is not a victory. The battle of Tejaswi was a great struggle." 

"The struggle was of the family and similarly it was with the powerful rulers. The leaders of Delhi and Patna did not miss a single opportunity to trap and defame Tejashwi. Despite the Prime Minister labelling him as 'crown prince of Jungle Raj' and etc., Tejashwi did not lose his restraint and kept on campaigning among the people.

"In fact, Nitish Kumar got so petrified of hs defeat in the election that he had to make an emotional appeal in the last phase of the campaign saying that this was his last election."

The mouthpiece added that "Tejashwi didn't stop or stagger in front of powerful leaders like PM Narendra Modi and the herdership of the rulers of Bihar. This moment will be recorded in the political history of the country. The power of Bihar will go to someone but the this election has brought Tejashwi a name in the politics of the country."

Its defeat notwithstanding, the RJD, whose campaign Tejashwi Yadav, the younger son and heir to party supremo Lalu Prasad helmed, emerged as the single largest party with 75 seats. 

The Congress managed to win only 19 of the 70 it had contested. The Left parties, though, sprang a surprise winning 16 out of the 29 seats the CPI(ML), the CPI and the CPI(M) had contested. The performance of CPI(ML), the most radical among the mainstream Left groups, stood out as it won 12 of the 19 seats it contested. The CPI and the CPI(M) won two seats each.

Asaduddin Owaisi's AIMIM clinched five seats while its alliance partner in Bihar, Mayawati's BSP, bagged one.

Chirag Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party, which pulled out of the NDA and contested nearly 150 seats, managed to win just one.

The saffron party, which had contested 110 seats, won 72 and was leading in another two while the JD(U) which fought 115, won only 42 and was ahead in another. With four seats each won by junior allies HAM and VIP, the NDA is poised to have 125 seats in its kitty, three more than the number required for a simple majority.

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