Patna: As the Bihar Assembly results poured in on Friday, Veerchand Patel Marg — Patna’s political nerve centre — transformed into a corridor of contrasting emotions. On one side, the BJP and JD(U) offices erupted into colour, sound and celebration. On the other hand, the RJD headquarters sank into stunned silence.
With the NDA’s sweeping victory, the BJP office resembled a festive fairground. A surge of party workers streamed in through the iron gates — some cycling in from the old quarters, others hopping out of auto-rickshaws overflowing with flags that fluttered like celebratory buntings. The courtyard glowed in shifting hues: saffron smoke from firecrackers, grey ash underfoot, and bright red gulal smeared across jubilant faces. Masks of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar bobbed above the crowd as workers broke into short jigs whenever the BJP tally climbed on the massive LED screen.
“Modi ka Parivar!” they shouted, waving cut-outs of the Prime Minister. Nearby, women in saffron saris chanted “Bharat Mata ki Jai!”, “Narendra Modi zindabad!”, and “Nitish Kumar zindabad!”, their voices nearly drowned by relentless drums. Workers distributed laddoos, insisting the party was “on course for its biggest-ever Assembly tally in Bihar, burying the ghost” of last year’s Lok Sabha dip.
A short distance away, the JD(U) office was soaked in green fervour. Supporters lifted a giant poster of Nitish Kumar that snapped loudly in the breeze. “Nitish ji ki paanchvi jeet likhi ja chuki hai… ab sirf formalities baaki hain!” a worker proclaimed to TV cameras. Elderly loyalists clapped along to a lone dholak, while a volunteer dressed as “Vikas Purush” posed with cardboard cut-outs of development schemes.
Across the street, however, the mood at the RJD office was sinking. The party, confident earlier of repeating its 2020 performance, watched its prospects collapse hour by hour. “We are very disappointed,” said Nishant Yadav, former Patna University Students’ Union vice president. “We wanted to give Tejashwi Yadav a chance. But the trends are not in our favour.” Outside, women sang songs referencing the Mai Bahan Yojana, with one remarking: “Victory and defeat are two sides of the same coin. Sometimes students prepare well, but write the exam badly.”