PATNA: The 'Grand Alliance' led by Bihar CM Nitish Kumar and foe-turned-friend, RJD supremo Lalu Prasad has failed to stop the 'forward march' of PM Narendra Modi in Bihar, as shown by the results of polls to 24 legislative council seats declared on Friday.

The NDA won 12 seats (BJP 11 and LJP 1), the Grand Alliance of JD (U), RJD and Congress was confined to 10 seats. The JD(U) and RJD won five and four seats, respectively. The Congress managed to win one seat. Independent candidates won two seats, including one supported by the NDA. Result of Madhubani seat was yet to be announced.

Thus, the Grand Alliance even failed to save its existing seats under the NDA onslaught. Its partners held 16 of the seats that went to polls. The result has not only surprised politicians but also political analysts who have closely watched the election in Bihar for at least two decades. The common opinion is it is high time for the Bihar CM to revisit his strategy and think over his decision to contest the forthcoming assembly election with RJD and Congress.

The CM, however, tried to put up a brave face and claimed that in 2010 council elections also the NDA (comprising BJP and JD(U)) did not perform well but in assembly elections the alliance scored a huge victory. "This was not an election where common man voted, at the same time it was also not a prestige issue. Even now I am confident that this election will not have any impact on the assembly election results," said the chief minister.

Shaibal Gupta, social scientist and founder member-secretary of Asian Development Research Institute (ADRI), said although the election does not reflect the mood of the general electorate as the voters for this election mainly came from the local bodies, it definitely has some indications for Bihar CM. "The election does not necessarily give indication of what will happen in the assembly election but it is certainly a morale booster for the BJP. It indicates that Bihar CM should pull up his socks before the assembly election," said Gupta.

JD(U) spokesman Dr Ajay Alok admitted the results were not according to expectations of the party. "We have failed to perform in important places like Chhapra, Patna and Madhubani and senior leadership need to ponder over the reasons behind the failure, be it the selection of candidates or alliance," he said.

The BJP camp was upbeat and called the results trailer of a feature film. "People call it a semi-final but I feel the results are just trailer of a movie. The voting pattern in places like Patna and Chhapra clearly reflects that the Grand Alliance is a mismatch. The supporters of RJD will not vote for JD(U). It will not be an exaggeration if one says that the Grand Alliance has failed to even take off," said Nand Kishore Yadav, BJP stalwart and leader of opposition in Bihar assembly.