Expressing its surprise over the Bihar Assembly election results, the RSS on Sunday said that it never expected the Grand Alliance to win in such a 'grand manner'. Senior RSS ideologue MG Vaidya said, "Didn't expect grand win of Grand Alliance in the election."

However, he cleared that the RSS was not to be blamed for the debacle. "RSS is not a political outfit. Can't hold RSS responsible for the defeat."

Analysts and ministers in the BJP are of the view that RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat's comments on reservation went against BJP in Bihar for which it had to pay dearly. Bhagwat had called for ending positive discrimination for backward communities , the BJP came out to clarify that it "respected 100 per cent the reservation rights of the SCs, STs and other backward castes."

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's Grand Alliance scored a stunning win on Sunday in the assembly elections, dealing a major blow to the BJP and sparking opposition attacks on Prime Minister Narendra Modi who led his party's challenge in the bitterly contested battle.

The Grand Alliance was just one short of a two-third majority to give Nitish Kumar his third straight victory in Bihar.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday said that he wants to work with the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre to take Bihar forward on the path of development.

Addressing a packed press conference in Patna, Nitish Kumar, who is set to return as Bihar's CM for a record fifth term, thanked people of the state for giving the Mahagathbandhan an overwhelming majority.