After a month of relentless campaigning and anticipation about which way the Bihar Assembly elections will swing, the atmosphere outside the Patna offices of the major parties, hours before counting begins, is as cold and quiet as the night itself.
The offices of the BJP, the JD(U), and the RJD are located within a few hundred metres of each other on Beerchand Patel Path and wear distinct looks, but one thing common across all three places is the silence. This is in contrast to hours earlier, when there were fresh fireworks in Patna after RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav put out a statement on X saying the people of Bihar were “alert and fully capable… to deal with any kind of improper unconstitutional activity”. The BJP said both this and a warning by a little-known RJD leader, Sunil Kumar Singh, of a “Nepal-like situation… if counting was halted like in 2020”, showed the Opposition’s despair as the NDA was set to return to power.
But hours later, things have quietened down. At the BJP office, the orange paint on the main gate, freshly applied in the evening, has yet to dry and the premises are almost empty, except for a few party workers talking to a reporter. Around 8.45 pm, as they prepare to leave, guard Upendra Kumar asks them, “Band kar dein gate, sir? (Should I close the gate?)”
As he closes the gate, Kumar, who hails from Sitamarhi and has a family back home dependent on agriculture, says he wanted Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to announce something for the farmers too. Asked about the results, he sounds cautious.
“Let’s see what happens. This time, Modi ji and Nitish ji really gave everything, from higher pensions to Rs 10,000 cash benefits (for women entrepreneurs). If they had given something to farmers, too, no one could’ve stopped them from winning. Nitish ji had been saying it for months before the elections, but nothing came through. They should’ve given something to the farmers before polling,” he says.
Kumar lives alone in the city and hopes to return home after the elections. “If, after the elections, the government arranges small jobs in every district block, I’ll just go back home. It’s hard living alone. If you fall sick, there’s no one to look after you,” he says.
A few hundred metres away is the RJD office, all quiet, with no guard manning the gate that has a huge padlock hanging over it. Between gates 1 and 2 is a large poster of Tejashwi Yadav that reads, “Har wada poora karenge, humara wada hai (We will fulfil every promise, that’s our commitment).” The poster mentions the RJD’s key promises: Mai Bahin Maan Yojana, promising Rs 2,500 monthly assistance to women; a hike in old-age and social security pensions from Rs 400 to Rs 1,500; and 200 units of free electricity each month.
A peek through the locked gate reveals bamboo poles lying around in bundles on the premises, remnants of a campaign tent that once housed stalls selling party scarves, caps, and badges.
Across the road, at the JD(U) office, there is some sign of life. Around 9.30 pm, three men are busy tying large bamboo poles, putting up a tent. “Sarkar ban raha hai toh tent nahi banega (If the JDU is forming the government, won’t a tent be set up)?” says one of them.
Asked about the silence on the opposite side of the road, another one of them says, “Jinka sarkar banega usi ke yahan na banega? Jinka sarkar ban hi nahi raha hai, band hai unke yahan (The tent will go up at the premises of whoever is set to form the government, isn’t it? Those who know they are about to lose keep their places closed).”
The men say they will be done setting up the tent within the next hour. Behind them looms a massive poster with a photo of Nitish on one side and a picture of a schoolgirl on the other. It reads, “Surakshit hai Bihar kyunki saath hai Nitish Kumar (Bihar is safe because Nitish Kumar is with us).”
A man cycling by glances at the tent and quips, “Sweets will be distributed here in the morning.” Two men who are walking by hear him and one of them has a ready comeback: “Chacha bye-bye, ab beta baithega gaddi pe (Bye-bye uncle, now the son will sit on the throne).” It is a reference to Tejashwi, who calls Nitish, who is more than twice his age, “chacha”.
One of the men working on the tent chuckles. “Ye jaane wale kahin thodi hai? Road ke us side wale ko bhi pata hai ye (He is not going anywhere, even the people on the other side of the road know that).”