Saffron party’s victories a warning for Bihar’s grand alliance, BJD in Odisha

Bypoll results on Sunday for two assembly seats in Bihar and one in Odisha set off the “warning beacon” for governing parties as the BJP won a couple and signalled its closing grip on the two eastern states. The 7-party grand alliance in Bihar that was revived this August after JD(U)-BJP coalition collapsed was expected to perform better. But the alliance’s collective effort failed to stop BJP from defeating RJD’s Mohan Prasad Gupta in Gopalganj—the home district of Lalu Prasad and Rabri Devi.