India, Nov. 15 -- Have the election results in Bihar shocked you? Don't be surprised, Bihar can startle anyone. The cradle of democracy has once again shown that people hold the real power in electoral battles. It's impossible to gauge the mood of voters, no matter how great a political pundit you are. While the counting was underway and trends were becoming clear, I was reminded of a conversation I had with a senior BJP leader on Thursday afternoon. I asked him how many seats he was expecting in Bihar. He said the NDA will easily form the government and expected 140 seats, give or take five. A few days earlier, the Janata Dal (United) strategists were echoing the same numbers in Patna. But the voters gave them a bumper victory. Why? This victory is a result of the BJP's organisational and strategic ability and Amit Shah's strategic depth. Dharmendra Pradhan and the BJP's large contingent of leaders and workers were engaged on the ground with him. Shah spent 19 days in the state and continuously met the local workers and motivated them. He was able to pacify more than 100 dissidents. He was able to settle all the grievances with the alliance partners and created an effective strategy to hold back migrant workers till the voting was over. Record voting and the extraordinary strike rate of the BJP and JD(U) are a result of this strategy. It seemed that Pradhan was permanently stationed in Bihar. The BJP marshalled experienced workers from all across the Hindi-speaking states, giving them key roles at every level in the state. Along with the local workers, these specialists worked quietly but tirelessly. They had memorised all the relevant data regarding the "double-engine government". They impressed upon anyone whom they met to vote for the "double-engine government" so that they could work towards industrialisation and increasing employment in the fourth term. They also worked hard to bring the voters to the booth. Prime Minister Narendra Modi attributed NDA's victory to good governance. He said, "The M-Y (Muslim-Yadav) formula was created by some parties for appeasement. But our victory has given rise to a new M-Y combination - mahila and youth ... Their aspirations, ambitions, and dreams have destroyed the communal and negative M-Y combination." But above them all is Nitish Kumar. Rumours were rife about his failing health, age slowing him down, and that the people were bored with him. But he is riding back to power with a decisive majority. No doubt, Nitish Kumar has done a lot to lift the Bihari society from its nadir. Besides initiatives for women's empowerment, he also launched many schemes for the uplift of the poor and the downtrodden. They all helped cement his victory. After his win, Nitish said, "In the Bihar assembly elections, people have reposed their faith in us by overwhelmingly casting votes in our favour. I bow to all the respected voters and thank them from my heart. I also pay my respect to our Prime Minister, Narendra Modi ji, for his constant support." This was the reason for the record voter turnout (67.13%) in this election. It influenced the Opposition leaders to gloat about their impending success. Tejashwi Yadav and his alliance partners made advance claims about their bumper victory. Were they so naive? Or were they unaware of the political ground shifting beneath their feet? Tejashwi and his alliance partners finished with less than 50 seats. There's a lesson in the results for Tejashwi, Rahul Gandhi and Mukesh Sahani. You can't surface just before the elections to entice the voters with gimmicks and expect to sweep them off their feet. Politics is a game of constant communication with your voters. Rahul Gandhi is visible only during the elections. There's a lesson for the left parties, which have lost heavily in both ideological and electoral terms by aligning with the Mahagathbandhan. From a high of 16 seats (out of 29 contested) in 2020, they are down to just three (out of the 33 contested). The story is the same in other states with regional princelings. If they don't mend their ways, they should be ready for terrible outcomes. Let's talk about another princeling, Chirag Paswan. In 2020, he was in the fray as Modi's self-proclaimed Hanuman. He was a trenchant critic of Nitish Kumar. This led to a feeling among the local Biharis that Nitish is disliked by the powers that be in New Delhi. Chirag could win only one single seat, but he hurt the JD(U)'s prospects. This time, he was in the fray as the NDA's darling. He kept saying Nitish was irreplaceable, and the NDA benefited from this united show. Lastly, Prashant Kishor. He hogged the limelight following his padyatras (marches on foot), but failed to convince the voters that he had it in him to form the government on his own. If he can do the hard yards for the next five years, he may get to claim a slice of Bihar's electoral pie. But does he have the requisite patience?...