'Snap polls may help NDA'

The dissolution of the Bihar assembly appears to have come at an awkward time for the National Democratic Alliance, but the mood in the camp is positive and confident. They had almost got together the numbers to form the government with the break up of the Ram Vilas Paswan-led LJP.

With former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee openly referring to Janata Dal leader Nitish Kumar as "the man who will be leading the NDA in Bihar", the alliance is grasping at the snap polls as a historical opportunity.

"This time round Paswan will be perceived as belonging to the Lalu Prasad-Congress camp, he will be finished. The vote katua (vote divider) role he played in the anti-Lalu constituency will be absent and we will win for sure," said a senior BJP leader.

In fact, party leaders appear confident that a snap poll in the state will lead to an NDA victory.

"Apart from the anti- Lalu vote coming to us, we are also counting on the fact that Buta Singh and the central government's actions like the transfer of the Siwan and Gopalganj district magistrates for actually pursuing cases against Shahabuddin and other criminal elements of the RJD would incite a reaction from the people," said the leader.

"The flood scam also came at an opportune time for us," he added.

The NDA's statement termed the dissolution of the Bihar assembly as a "murder of democracy", another in a long line of such actions by the UPA government including the suspension of the assembly in Goa and its actions in Jharkhand prior to the formation of the Arjun Munda government.

The BJP is also planning to challenge the "unconstitutional" decision in the court. Party general secretary Arun Jaitley said, "It is an unconstitutional decision which will be fought on all fronts."