NEW DELHI: Making a splendid progress in Bihar at the cost of ruling Janata Dal, the Bharatiya Janata Party last week reached an unassailable tally of 161 seats as the single largest party with only 10 out of 537 Lok Sabha results still awaited.
‘The Congress, already severely mauled across the country and running second with 134 had little hope of increasing its tally as it was trailing in most of the remaining constituent.
Elections were held to 537 seats out ‘of which counting for two from Jammu and Kashmir Jammu and Ladakh constituencies would be taken up. Only after completion of poll to four more seats in the State by the end of this month.
The BJP and its ally Samata Party, so far bagging 19 seats in Bihar, wrested quite a few from JD, dealing ‘a serious blow to the unassailable image of Janata Dal president and Chief Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav, who is determined to ensure that the BJP does not form the Government at the Center, The BJP, showing a strength of 181 along with its allies Shiv Sena (15) Samata Party (six)and HVP (three) has already staked its claim to form the Government, The BIP, so far winning 15 seats in Bihar on its own, was leading in three other constituencies and was set to finish with 1813 more than what it had won in 1991. On the other hand JD, winning 16 ‘and leading in six more, can hope to end at best with only 22 which would be nine Jess than its previous tally of 31 in the State ruled by it.
Meanwhile, the badly bruised Congress received some consolation when it mopped up all the four seats in Himachal Pradesh when Union Minister Sukh Ram won the fourth seat from Mandi.
‘The BJP was poised for clean sweep in South Bihar after smashing the ruling Janata Dal’s citadel in alliance with Samata Party in northern and central parts of the State, where the combine wrested nine seats.
‘The BJP Samata and Dal CPI combines have so far won 19 seats each, while the Congress picked up two and Samajwadi Party and JMMS bagged one each.
Article extracted from this publication >> May 15, 1996
