The Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday said consolidation of votes and a miscalculation in its poll arithmetic were the main reasons behind the National Democratic Alliance's heavy loss in the Bihar assembly elections. It added that it respected the mandate of the people of Bihar and hoped the new government works for the development and progress of the state.

The BJP's Parliamentary Board, its highest decision-making body, convened a meeting at 4 pm on Monday to assess the Bihar loss. Union minister Arun Jaitley told reporters after the meeting that the party had analysed the results.

He said, "In the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, the three parties of the Grand Alliance fought separately. The NDA got 38.8% [of the vote share], and the three members of the Grand Alliance together accounted for 45.3%. In the Bihar elections, we got 34.1% and the Grand Alliance got 41.9%. The difference is the same if they had fought independently. The size of their coalition arithmetically became more than us, which was the biggest reason [for the loss]. We miscalculated the seat share."

Jaitley added that the BJP-led NDA will serve the role of the Opposition efficiently and work for the people of Bihar. He rejected claims that the NDA was losing its credibility in the country, saying that it had earlier won the assembly elections in Maharashtra, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, and Jharkhand.