Mumbai

The Shiv Sena (UBT) on Wednesday called the assembly bypoll results in Bihar and Madhya Pradesh a mandate against the “corrupt” BJP government and said that the “dictatorial” rule at the Centre can be defeated if the Opposition “sets aside its ego”.

In an editorial in its mouthpiece ‘Saamana’, the party said the BJP’s defeat in Bankipur (Bihar) and Datia (Madhya Pradesh) was a reflection of the unease among the citizens. However, it will be an exaggeration to term the bypolls mini-general elections, it said.

The BJP on Monday faced embarrassing defeats in Bankipur, where Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor wrested the seat vacated by the ruling party chief Nitin Nabin, as well as in Datia, lending ammunition to the Opposition, which was quick to term it as the “beginning of the end” of the saffron party.

“The defeat in Bankipur and Datia is a mandate against the corrupt government. If the Opposition sets aside its ego and (its members) work together, the dictatorial rule of Modi and Shah can certainly be defeated,” it said.

The party also slammed Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), which came a distant third in Bankpur, and its leader Tejashwi Yadav. The editorial claimed that people rejected Tejashwi Yadav because he has no consistency.

The people of Bihar are frustrated with the politics of caste and need good education and employment. Bankipur seat has a sizable Yadav and Muslim population, but they voted in favour of Kishor instead of the RJD candidate, it said.

Student protests at Jantar Mantar over exam-related irregularities and the subsequent police action against them, the Ram Mandir “loot" and the BJP leadership’s “silence” on these issues were the reasons for the saffron party’s defeat in its stronghold Bankipur, it claimed.

The editorial further claimed that the video of a performer, dressed as Lord Hanuman, dancing and waving the BJP flag while welcoming party president Nitin Nabin in Lucknow, had hurt people’s sentiments.

“The BJP has lost confidence after the police action against protesters at Jantar Mantar and the Ram Mandir (donation) loot issue,” it said.

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Similar to the Bofors issue, which led to the Congress’ defeat in the 1988 bypoll from the erstwhile Allahabad Lok Sabha seat and contributed to the party’s loss in the general elections next year, the recent youth protests and the Bankipur and Datia by-election results have boosted the Opposition’s morale to take on the ruling BJP, the editorial added.