Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar posted a message online commending the parties that won the Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa and Manipur.

Kumar went on to analyze the BJP's phenomenal wins in UP and Uttarakhand, saying that the backward classes have endorsed the Bharatiya Janata Party in the election results. "Furthermore, the non-BJP parties did not try to consolidate these classes," Nitish said.

The Bihar chief minister, who has largely support Prime Minister Narendra Modi's demonetisation gambit, then went on to link the note ban to the BJP's wins. The Opposition should not have raised such a hue and cry over the controversial move, Kumar opined, adding that the poor felt content that the exercise had hurt the rich.

Nitish also indicated that the Congress, Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party failed partly because they were unable to form a Bihar-style grand alliance in UP.

In two sentences, Nitish also congratulated the Congress for its strong win in Punjab and for emerging as the leading party in Manipur and Goa.

WHAT IS HAPPENING TODAY?

Goa, meanwhile, is seeing a pitched battle between the BJP and Congress. Neither of the parties was able to win a majority on its own and both of them are scarmbling to win support from state parties.

Both the Congress and BJP have asserted that they will be able to form the government in the coastal state with their respective mandates.

In Punjab, Congress is all set to form the government, with the victorious Captain Amarinder Singh planning to meet the governor later today to stake his claim to the chief minister's chair.

For UP and Uttarakhand, the BJP parliamentary board will meet today to decide the chief ministers of these states. In Manipur, where no party emerged with a clear majority, the BJP is negotiating with state parties to get enough support to form government.

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