Have the election results in Bihar shocked you? Don’t be surprised, Bihar can startle anyone. The cradle of democracy has once again shown that people hold the real power in electoral battles. It’s impossible to gauge the mood of voters, no matter how great a political pundit you are.

While the counting was underway and trends were becoming clear, I was reminded of a conversation I had with a senior BJP leader on Thursday afternoon. I asked him how many seats he was expecting in Bihar. He said the NDA will easily form the government and expected 140 seats, give or take five. A few days earlier, the Janata Dal (United) strategists were echoing the same numbers in Patna. But the voters gave them a bumper victory. Why?

This victory is a result of the BJP’s organisational and strategic ability and Amit Shah’s strategic depth. Dharmendra Pradhan and the BJP’s large contingent of leaders and workers were engaged on the ground with him. Shah spent 19 days in the state and continuously met the local workers and motivated them. He was able to pacify more than 100 dissidents. He was able to settle all the grievances with the alliance partners and created an effective strategy to hold back migrant workers till the voting was over. Record voting and........

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