Rajnath Singh has already conceded defeat in Bihar, says Lalu Prasad Yadav

36 hours to go for the all-important Bihar election results, Rash?riya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav has told ET that Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh has already conceded defeat by saying that Amit Shah will get a second term as BJP President irrespective of the Bihar poll results. The Home Minister had made the statement to ET in an interview earlier this week.

“Rajnath Singh has conceded it (the defeat), he has accepted it by saying Amit Shah will get a second term irrespective of what happens in Bihar,” Yadav told ET at his residence in Patna on Friday. Reiterating his claim that the Mahagathbandan will win 190 seats, Yadav said Narendra Modi and Amit Shah will “be wiped out” from these elections. “Narendra Modi ka sutda saaf ho gaya hai (Modi has been wiped out). The BJP has gone into coma and its leaders are in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) right now in Bihar while I am totally relaxed,” Yadav said. Rajnath Singh in an interview to ET earlier said Amit Shah will get a second term. “There is no logic to link any assembly elections to the national president of a party. Even when I was party president, the party won and lost assembly elections. But it was no? evaluated on that basis (assembly election results). Party Presidents complete their tenures,” Singh said. When asked whether Amit Shah will get a second term, Rajnath Singh had said: “he will get a fresh term.”

Yadav said his assessment of 190 seats was based on ground reports. “We work at the ground and are connected ?o the people. All classes of people — EBC, backward, dalit and minorities — have voted for us. Their leaders say these elections will not be a referendum on the Centre but why was the PM and his so many ministers in Bihar then? They tried everything but have failed. Where is the exit poll that has given us 180 seats? If it is there, it should be shown on TV,” Yadav told ET. Asked if 190 seats meant that Congress will also get good seats, Yadav said: “Whatever it is, maha ga?habandhan will get 190 seats.” He was non-committal on a Deputy Chief Minister post for the RJD. “We don’t see all this right now,” Yadav said when asked if RJD will insist on a deputy CM post if it wins. Yadav on Thursday had said Nitish Kumar will decide if a deputy CM is needed or not. Asked if Jitin Ram Ma?jhi would get maha dalit votes, Yadav said: “Let the booth level counting figures come. You will know the facts.”