A key aide of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday saw a "positive signal for national politics" from the assembly elections, in which the BJP has come out with flying colours, much to the disappointment of the Congress.
Senior JD(U) leader Vijay Kumar Chaudhary, a state minister, was approached by journalists with queries about the trends showing a BJP win in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, where it has turned the tables on the ruling Congress, and also in Madhya Pradesh, where it has surmounted incumbency despite being in power for four consecutive terms.
"Normally, questions should be asked only after the results are out and not when we have only trends. Still, it can be said that the trends point towards a positive signal for national politics," he said.
He parried questions as to whether he believed the Congress had erred in not taking all constituents of the INDIA coalition along in the state polls, which it chose to fight on its own steam.
Nonetheless, Chaudhary's cryptic remark may be seen in the backdrop of Nitish Kumar, the JD(U)'s supreme leader, having chided the Congress for putting "opposition unity" on the back burner.
At a rally of another INDIA partner CPI here last month, Kumar had voiced his anguish over Congress getting too caught up in assembly polls, which, according to him, was preventing the anti-BJP coalition from building on the momentum it had generated.
Notably, Kumar had snapped ties with the BJP last year, vowing to defeat it in Lok Sabha polls by bringing together the entire opposition.
A meeting of the joint opposition hosted by the CM here, in keeping with a suggestion by his West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee, laid the foundation for the multi-party coalition.
