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Bihar votes to end Laloo's 15yr reign

INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE, Patna
Bihar's electorate created history yesterday, finally ending 15 years of political domination by Railway Minister Laloo Prasad and ushering in a new administration that will be led by his long-time foe Nitish Kumar.
In a stunning verdict, voters who only eight months ago delivered a badly hung 243-member Bihar Assembly gave the alliance of the Janata Dal-United (JD-U) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) an easy win in the staggered elections that ended Saturday.
Within hours after counting of the millions of votes began, the writing was on the wall for Laloo Prasad and his Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), which had ruled the country's second most populous state since 1990, winning election after election with amazing regularity.
The JD-U and BJP together had won 149 seats while only 122 seats were needed to form a government.
Celebrations broke out here and in New Delhi, outside the offices of the JD-U and the BJP, both of which claimed
that the verdict was a vote against Laloo Prasad's and his party's poor administration.
In New Delhi, Nitish Kumar, once a friend of Lalu Prasad who later became one of his bitterest critics, called it a "vote for change and good governance".
Nitish Kumar, who unlike in February was projected this time as the chief ministerial candidate of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), said: "The people of Bihar were disappointed and disillusioned with (poor) governance. I will work for the welfare of all communities - Hindus, Muslims, backwards."
"It is a wave (against RJD)," added a beaming Sushil Modi, the BJP chief in Bihar. "It is a reflection of people's anger against Laloo and Rabri Devi. They thought they could indefinitely remain in power on the strength of their vote banks. That myth has been shattered."
Tuesday's verdict marked the end of the Laloo era, and a mellowed but still
confident RJD leader accepted defeat after confining himself for hours to the house of his wife and former chief minister, Rabri Devi.
"On a personal level I congratulate him (Nitish Kumar)," Laloo Prasad told a crowded news conference. But he quickly added that the voters had blundered by voting for the JD-U and the BJP.
"We will fully cooperate with Nitish Kumar. We will play the role of the opposition. On a personal level he is my younger brother. I congratulate him, but not the BJP."
The RJD, which in February had ended up as the single largest political party, cut a sorry figure, winning along with its allies including the Congress just 63.
Several RJD stalwarts were humbled. Even Rabri Devi scraped through with just about 5,000 votes in Raghopur after initially trailing to her JD-U rival Shiv Kumar. FROM PAGE 16
Steel Minister Ramvilas Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), which played the spoilsport in February necessitating fresh elections, could pick up only 14 seats - far short of the 29 it bagged eight months ago.