It’s a loss but I am not defeated

The bitter taste of defeat again। Another learning curve yet again. After the times exhilarating feeling and at other times the trauma of setbacks during the grueling campaign, the loss-on the whole- has made me richer in experience with life. I got affection and votes from every section of the society. From twenty-six thousand odd votes as independent candidate five years ago, I have now polled more than 1.51 lac votes. The loss as an independent pressed home the necessity of party based electoral politics and the real-polity of vote banks. I must give credit to Sadhu Yadav for ruining my party : he garnered a substantial chunk of RJD votes- he polled about 71 thousand votes, almost twice the margin that I lost by.My coalition’s division with the Congress proved to be my nemesis. There was obviously a Nitish wave sweeping Bihar but that played a little, if at all any, role in my debacle.I need now to sit back and rethink about my intervention. But I am happy to have been working in Champaran - my home and constituency- since the past five years, especially with my efforts to develop industry and agriculture here. The construction of my sugar mill is going on at full pace and next year we’ll begin production. That indeed will be a sugar coating to wipe out the sense of loss that one feels today.I am happy that I followed my conscience and followed the secular path. A loss does taste bitter. But, in my defeat too, there is no bitterness with anyone. Only the lingering aftertaste of peoples’ love and affection that I have been getting all through. It was a good feeling to wish best of luck to Sadhu, Sanjay and Ramashray Babu of CPM before counting commenced this morning. And, yes, I was still there to congratulate Dr Sanjay Jaiswal on victory at the end of counting. I wish our new MP the very best in his new innings as our man in parliament.

Prakash Jha.