There has been little celebration in the Janata Dal(U) camp in Bihar and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has not even reacted to the poll result even as “Big Brother” BJP has kept reaffirming he will continue to be Chief Minister.

Nitish’s silence is baffling. It was expected that having survived a bitterly fought elections where the pollsters had written him off, Kumar’s party will have reason to celebrate Dipawali in advance. But during the last 48 hours, the Chief Minister has confined himself to his 1, Anne Marg residence and not even done the formality of thanking the voters.

Sources said Nitish has called a meeting of all his candidates — both winners and losers — at 3.30 pm on Thursday at his residence. The CM will take feedback from them about the reasons for the party’s dismal show and then may speak out on the poll result.

A JD(U) leader explained Nitish’s silence saying all these years he dictated the terms to the BJP, but now that the saffron party is doing a favour by offering him the chair of the Chief Minister, Nitish has reasons to be cautious. After all, the BJP will now seek a proportionate share in the Cabinet and would like to have greater say in the Government. “This is not a welcome situation for someone like Nitish Kumar,” the JD(U) leader said, adding, “What’s there to celebrate for us.”

The JD(U) rank and file is also very disappointed with the BJP top leadership for allowing Chirag Paswan to remain within the NDA at the national level when he went out to sabotage Nitish’s prospects in the polls and threatened to send him to jail in corruption cases.

Those who know Nitish Kumar understand that he is unlikely to forgive Chirag and would mount pressure on the BJP to throw him out of the NDA.

With a wafer thin majority of three seats on his side and his party reduced to 43 seats — 30 seats less than the B JP — Nitish does not seem to be in any hurry to reveal his mind even though several top BJP leaders have met him during the last two days.

On Wednesday, both BJP State chief Sanjay Jaiswal and Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi asserted that Nitish will continue to head the NDA Government in Bihar and the gap between the number of seats of BJP and JD(U) will have no impact on the ruling alliance dynamics in the State.

“Certainly, 100%,” Jaiswal told PTI when asked whether Kumar will remain the Chief Minister.

“We are allies and equals. We have to run Bihar collectively,” he said.

“Winning the fourth term is always a great task for anybody. We have won that. This proves everything was fine. It is very rare that you win a fourth term in continuity. We have done this and it settles everything,” Jaiswal said.

Echoing similar views, Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi said, “Nitishji will remain Chief Minister as it was our commitment. There is no confusion on this.”

“Not all parties win an equal number of seats. Who won how many seats is irrelevant, people voted for the NDA. BJP played a role in JD(U)’s victory and JD(U) played a role in BJP’s victory. JD(U), BJP, VIP and HAM worked together, then we registered this victory,” Sushil Modi was quoted as saying by ANI.

If Nitish continues as Chief Minister, he would be sworn in for the seventh time into the position. However, the relationship between the BJP and JD(U) is expected to be different, as the BJP will be the senior partner in the alliance.

The BJP will certainly extract its pound of flesh if it allowed Nitish to remain in the driver’s seat. It will try to have greater say in policy formulations and try to expand its base taking advantage of a situation where it is seen as the true winner of the battle of Bihar.

Meanwhile, to a question on the massive damage Chirag Paswan-led Lok Janshakti Party inflicted on the NDA, especially the JD(U)’s prospects, he said that the LJP also hurt the BJP in a number of seats.

If the LJP was not there, the BJP would have defeated RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav in Raghopur constituency, Jaiswal claimed.

To a question on whether LJP will now have any place in the ruling alliance, he said it is for the BJP Parliamentary Board, the apex decision-making body of the saffron party, to decide on that.

He, though, added that the NDA means the BJP, JD(U), Vikassheel Insaan Party and Jitan Ram Manjhi-led HAM(S) in Bihar.

The BJP had the best strike rate among all parties in the fray as it won 73 of the 110 seats it contests. Allies VIP and HAM(S) won four seats each.