Move over Modi. Five takeaways from Bihar results

Poster boys and girls don't last very long in Indian politics. No one can rule a vast, diverse and multipolar country like India single-handedly by riding roughshod over party colleagues, allies and the Opposition alike.

This is the blunt message that the Bihar Assembly results have thrown in the face of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The going has got tougher for Modi even before he completes 18 months as prime minister. Here are the five major takeaways from Bihar election results.

1. Modi becomes lame duck; Amit Shah bound to lose clout.

Normally state Assembly election results cannot and should not be seen as a referendum on the central government. But in this case, the reverse will inevitably be true. Modi himself is responsible for this as he raised the stakes by carpet bombing Bihar with his rallies. No prime minister had campaigned so hard in a state election ever before. In his zeal to teach a lesson to his arch-rival Nitish Kumar, he ignored the fact that here was a prime minister who was taking on a chief minister. Modi did not learn from the BJP'S debacle in Delhi nine months ago and repeated the same mistake of personally driving the Bihar campaign, thinking that the Delhi rout was a one-off. But Bihar has put a stamp and seal on the Delhi verdict and has put Modi on notice. Chances are that Bihar results will make Modi a lameduck prime minister very early in his tenure. Also, his "Man Friday" and handpicked choice as interim president of the BJP, Amit Shah will have one foot on a banana peel. Modi may be more receptive now to the initial objection of the RSS that the party chief and head of government cannot be from the same state.

2. Opposition will make things more difficult in Parliament.

The development agenda will take a back seat as a rejuvenated Opposition will block Modi's reforms agenda both inside and outside Parliament. The Modi government will find it difficult to clear major legislations in Parliament like the Land Bill and Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill. This will inevitably lead to the spiralling effect of a severe dent in GDP growth and FDI inflow. It also sends a message to the Opposition that united they stand and divided they fall and the Opposition will inevitably be replicating this formula in forthcoming polls.

3. Going gets tougher for BJP in five poll-bound states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal, Assam and the union territory of Puducherry next year.

The BJP will find it far tougher now to win the five Assembly elections that are due next year. Though it never had any sizeable presence in the four states and the union territory named above, victory in Bihar could have changed the dynamics. Now the BJP victory rath has finally and firmly been stopped and its hopes of strengthening its position in the Rajya Sabha have receded.

4. Modi will have to change his style of functioning if he has to survive.

This is an inevitability. Modi will have to reach out to his detractors within his own party as well as to the Opposition like the Congress if he has to survive.

5. Modi will face difficulties on foreign policy front also.

His international image will take a beating. The world will no longer see him as a strongman. He will have to mend his ways and be more careful while throwing diatribes on Congress leaders from foreign soil. He will no longer be able to weave the Madison Square Garden magic of September 2014. He will be a shrivelled leader. One will see this shortly when he undertakes visits to five foreign countries in three trips this month, beginning with the UK on November 12.