NDA has an edge over RJD-led Mahagathbandhan in Bihar, initial trends suggest

A majority of the exit polls Saturday had projected win for RJD-led Grand Alliance and Tejashwi Yadav as next CM, though some said NDA would give a tough fight.

NDA has nosed ahead in the Bihar elections | Photo: Praveen Jain | ThePrint

New Delhi: The Bihar assembly elections results promise to be a cliffhanger with the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) just about nosing ahead of the Tejashwi Yadav-led opposition alliance.

According to CNN News18, as of 11 am, the NDA is ahead on 122 of the 243 seats while the opposition alliance has leads in 112 constituencies after five rounds of counting.

The majority mark is 122.

Among the NDA parties, the BJP is leading in 63 of the 110 seats that it is contesting while ally JD(U) is leading in 55 of the 115 seats that it is contesting. The BJP has already announced that if the NDA wins, incumbent CM Nitish Kumar will retain his post. It will be his fourth term as CM. Kumar has already announced that this will be his last election.

In the last assembly election in 2015, the JD(U) had won 71 of the 101 seats contested; the BJP took 53 of 157.

Exit polls had backed Grand Alliance

A majority of the exit polls Saturday had given an edge to Tejashwi Yadav-led Grand Alliance or Mahagathbandhan.

In the opposition alliance, RJD is leading in 68 of the 144 seats, Congress is leading in 27 of the 70 seats it is contesting and the Left parties are leading in six of the 29 seats that they are contesting. Both Tejashwi Yadav from Raghopur and brother Tej Pratap Yadav from Hasanpur are leading, according to latest reports.

Former Bihar CM Jitan Ram Manjhi-led Hindustani Awam Morcha, which is also part of the NDA, is contesting in seven seats. Manjhi, however, is trailing. Another NDA ally Vikassheel Insaan Party is contesting in 11 seats. Its leader Mukesh Saini is leading.

Chirag Paswan-led Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), contesting in 137 seats, is leading in two. In the 2015 assembly elections, LJP had won just two seats. The NDA ally at the Centre decided to walk out of the alliance in Bihar and go solo just ahead of the polls. The party is expected to dent the JD(U)’s vote. Paswan’s campaign was marked by repeated attacks on incumbent CM Nitish Kumar and his governance.