Routed Bihar Opposition vows to come back hard

BJP combine prepares to retain power in Bihar for the second consecutive term, the routed Opposition parties, while congratulating Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on the win, promised to come back strong in the state.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, congratulating Kumar from New Delhi, assured of the Centre?s sustained cooperation with the state government for the cause of development of the state.

Congress chief Sonia Gandhi also congratulated Kumar for the clean sweep of the Bihar polls.

Gandhi said her party will ?start from scratch? and added, ?We did not have much hope. We took a deliberate decision not to work in alliance with other parties.?

Former chief minister and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) supreme Lalu Prasad and Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) chief Ram Vilas Paswan also conveyed their wishes to the new government.

?We respect the mandate of the people, we congratulate the new government,? Lalu Prasad said.

The two leaders, whose parties fought the elections in an alliance, addressed a joint press conference here.

Lalu, however, also hinted at possible foul play and said, ?I am not accusing anyone, but there is some mystery in their victory, we will find out.?

He maintained that the BJP and JD(U) has been able to win seats in areas where these parties have no known standing.