Bihar voted for development, says Shahnawaz

PATNA - Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Shahnawaz Hussain said Wednesday that the people of Bihar had voted for development by re-electing Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s ruling alliance.

“It is clear that people have voted for development and not for caste,” Hussain, a former central cabinet minister, told IANS here. “Nitish Kumar is set to return to power.”

Hussain’s comments came as early trends showed that Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal-United (JD-U) and it ally BJP were inching towards a sweeping win from the October-November elections to pick a new 243-member assembly.

Hussain, the most prominent Muslim face of the BJP, said the Bihar verdict would prove to be a watershed in Indian politics.