What worked for Mahagathbandhan in Bihar?

1. The RJD-JD(U) pact ensured a core 34% vote – Muslims, Yadavs and Kurmis – giving Grand Alliance a potential advantage in many of Bihar's 243 seats. Congress eliminated split in anti-BJP vote, denying BJP advantage of the 2014 LS three-way contest
2. Lalu's recourse to caste war brought about a backward-forward polarisation. BJP bid to pull in EBCs through alliances failed.It was looking at a 15% upper caste vote but results indicate that even this calculation may have been off the mark
3. Projection of Nitish Kumar as CM cashed in on his goodwill and reassured those chary of Lalu raj
4. Lalu's 'sacrifice' in agreeing to Nitish's projection as CM and parity in seat-sharing – a big concession given their bitter feud in the past. Lalu was able to transfer his support to JD(U) and Congress
5. Lalu and Nitish jumped on RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat's statement favouring a review of quotas to allege that BJP was conspiring to abolish caste-based reservation – a damning charge as backwards and Dalits account for almost 70% of Bihar's population
6. The Nitish campaign, overseen by Prashant Kishor, who worked for BJP in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, blended innovative use of bicycles with social media
7. Muslims were persuaded to keep low profile to reduce 'counter-polarization' in BJP's favour
8. Support from 'secular' politicians – from Kejriwal to Mamata – and the uprising against intolerance attracted many neutrals. BJP's 'divisive, communal' campaign around beef and Pakistan appears to have backfired
9. Modi's jibe about Nitish's DNA being prone to duplicity and betrayal was a misfire and seen as an affront to Biharis