It's like a festival outside Nitish Kumar's home

It is like a festival out there in front of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's official residence in Patna as he is set to return to power by a landslide. His beaming supporters, mostly from the Janata Dal-United, have been thronging his house since the morning to express their joy at his return as chief minister.

Truckloads of laddoos, hundreds of packets of sweets, and tonnes of flowers have been brought in by his admirers. "Laddoos will be distributed in the afternoon to mark Nitish Kumar's victory," a JD-U leader said.

In true Holi style, jubilant JD-U supporters have been playing with colours, bursting firecrackers and distributing sweets since the morning. "It is a red letter day for us," Satish Kumar, an upbeat JD-U leader, told rediff.com.

Also see: Live Bihar trends

Rajeev Ranjan, another JD-U leader, said it was a victory of Nitish Kumar's development plank over the caste arithmetic of former chief minister Lalu Prasad. "The people have rejected caste and voted for development," he said.

"There is no doubt Nitish will be the next chief minister," JD-U leader Jawed Mahood said.

There was jubilation among the Bharatiya Janata Party workers, too, as the party is set to improve on its electoral performance five years ago. "We are celebrating our victory, it is a vote for development," BJP leader Sanjay Mayukh said.

Another BJP leader, Kiran Ghai, said the NDA led by Nitish Kumar was voted in by the people for its development plank. "It is a vote for vikas," she said.

However, not far from Nitish Kumar's residence, gloom has enveloped Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad's residence following the election trends.

"We are not doing as well as expected," Ram Kirpal Yadav, an RJD member of Parliament close to party chief Lalu Prasad, said.

RJD leaders were downcast, with some unable to accept the outcome.

The mood was dismal in Congress circles, too, with its leaders reluctant to say anything about the party's dismal performance. "We will wait till all the results are declared," Congress leader Azmi Bari said.

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