.. A scrutiny of Lok Sabha poll results would show that the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD)-Congress combine could have won 26 Lok Sabha seats instead of ending up with 10 had they joined hands with other secular parties.

If the CPI(ML) candidate had not contested ... in Barh, Nitish Kumar would not have been Surface Transport Minister in the Vajpayee government. Nitish's victory margin was just 1,900 votes. In Ballia, the CPI candidate ... paved the way for a JD(U) victory ... It was the same story in Madhubani where Hukumdev Narayan Yadav (BJP) won ... over his Congress rival as the CPI candidate walked away with 14 per cent of the votes ...

The BJP won the Katihar seat ... due to a vote-split among parties other than the BJP, principally the Congress and the Bahujan Samaj Party.

In Kishanganj, the Nationalist Congress Party candidate polled ... enough votes to defeat the RJD by a margin of 5 per cent. Whether it was Samastipur or Bagaha, Buxar or Banka, Jehanabad or Sasaram, division of votes among the non-BJP-JD(U) parties caused defeats. At least five Lok Sabha seats were lost in South Bihar (Dumka, Godda, Giridih, Khunti and Lohardaga) to the BJP when the Congress declined to enter into a tactical understanding with the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha factions. Even the Singhbhum seat was lost due to a feud between the Congress and the JMM.

Results show an increase of more than 3 per cent of the popular vote for the RJD and 1.6 per cent for the Congress. Together, they polled 38.46 per cent while the BJP-JD(U) got 44.36 per cent The poll percentage of the CPI, CPI(ML) and JMM fell by 3% in 1999, ensuring that the BJP-JD(U) gained 16 extra seats ... In at least 15 Lok Sabha seats which the NDA candidates retained, the victory margin came down sharply in four ... If the RJD lost 15 of the 17 seats it bagged in the 12th Lok Sabha, it succeeded in snatching five from the NDA. This was the first time that the Bahujan Samaj Party fielded 30 candidates. It polled only 1.4 per cent votes, but ensured that the Saharsa seat went to the BJP.

The net gain of votes to the NDA in Bihar was just 4.56 per cent while the gain for the RJD-Congress was 5.34 per cent. Though the NDA is ahead in 191 of the 300 Assembly segments in 50 Lok Sabha seats, it is felt that Laloo's political obituary cannot be written easily. If he decides to enter into a tie-up with the CPI and the Congress joins hands with the JMM, the NDA will have a tough time.

Of the 191 Assembly segments, the NDA's victory  margin was narrow in nearly 50 segments. They could go either way in the next four months. The RJD and the Congress led in only 89 segments and their victory margin was narrow in 20 Assembly seats too ... (Source: The Indian Express, 30 October, 1999)