Patna (Bihar) [India], September 8 : Bihar Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary on Tuesday acknowledged that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is introspecting to "fix the system" following its unexpected defeat in the Bankipur assembly by-election.
Speaking to ANI, he said, "We are making the Bharatiya Janata Party more self-confident, and we know we made a mistake," Choudhary stated. "Someone is winning our seat, and this is a matter of concern for us. That's why all the party members are involved in this work. We must work out this. And it is alarming for us as well that the party will think about it and fix the system".
The statement comes after Jan Suraaj Party chief Prashant Kishor won the long-held BJP stronghold by a margin of 19,324 votes against candidate Neeraj Kumar Sinha. The seat was previously vacated by BJP National President Nitin Nabin.
Dismissing claims that the single bypoll result indicates a broader shift across the state, Choudhary argued that isolated elections do not determine the overall public mandate.
"Understand one thing, one seat is not the mandate of the whole of Bihar; first of all, keep this in mind," he asserted. "There are bellwether seats in Bihar. I am telling you that in 2005, Nitish ji came, and in 2009, by-elections were held. In 2017, 12 seats were lost. So even after losing 12 seats, 206 seats were won. See, the mandate of Bihar is decided by what Bhagalpur, Purnia, Motihari, Saran, and Shahabad say. This doesn't decide one seat."
A bellwether seat is a constituency whose voting pattern closely mirrors the overall election result, making it a reliable indicator of which party or coalition will form the government nationally or regionally.
Choudhary also issued a firm reminder to public representatives regarding political accountability.
"People have become MLAs; they should do good work. They will have to work," he said. "This is the mandate of the public; they will have to work. So we will also work; otherwise the public will have to decide. There is nothing to say about this".
Responding to political attacks from Prashant Kishor, who claimed the electorate rejected Choudhary's leadership, the Chief Minister stated he remains focused on governance rather than political disputes.
"We don't have personal grudges, and my personality is not to fight with anyone," Choudhary emphasised. "I have come to work for Bihar. Not for you, but for me. People fight till the Supreme Court against me. Let them fight. The court will decide. We will decide. Let the court do the work. The Constitution gives them the right to go to any court. There is no problem. We are not refusing anyone. That's why I said, let whoever wants to speak, speak. We are here to work. We will work".
Reflecting on the opposition's focused attacks against him following the election results, the Chief Minister added a lighthearted take on the discourse.
"No one was talking about Lalu ji, Nitish ji, or Samrat Choudhary during the elections," Choudhary noted. "When elections are over, everyone has the same target. It's a good thing that everyone is loving Samrat Choudhary; what's the problem?"