The opposition alliance, considered at one point knocked out of the contest for Bihar, has made a thrilling recovery and is now just a few seats behind the ruling NDA. Initially, it was Tejashwi Yadav’s Rashtriya Janata Dal which snagged the largest party spot from the NDA. Then the ruling coalition, which stayed above the majority mark in the 243-member assembly for the better part of the day, started slipping. The biggest hit has been taken by Nitish Kumar, whose Janata Dal United is trailing in a chunk of seats — an outcome brought about by voters’ anger and the solo contest of Lok Janshakti Party’s Chirag Paswan, which appears to have benefitted the BJP. A tight contest is on in 20 seats, with the margin of lead is 600 votes and below.
- The ruling NDA is leading in 120 seats and the opposition alliance in 116 seats, in Bihar Election Results. The BJP is leading in 72 seats, the JDU in 41. The RJD is ahead in 77 seats, the Congress in 20 and the CPI-ML in 11 seats.
- Describing the conditions that led to the delay, the Election Commission said they have halved the number of counting tables from 14 to seven. The number of postal ballots have increased and so have the number of rounds. The Election Commission has told counting officers not to be in a hurry and take time. Officials said results will come late night.
- With close to 50 per cent votes counted in Bihar and its spectacular results in by-elections across states, the BJP was getting ready for festivities. Celebrations started in Patna and preparations were on at the party headquarters in New Delhi. But with the opposition narrowing the gap in Bihar, the party toned it down. Sources said it was , unlikely for Union minister Amit Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi to attend the function.
- “We were confident there will be a BJP win… In MP also we are forming government,” senior party leader Kailash Vijayvargiya told NDTV. “Modi’s image sailed us through. A negative campaign damaged JDU a little. By evening we will decide on issues of government formation and leadership,” he added.
- KC Tyagi, the spokesman of Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal United, told NDTV that it was the coronavirus pandemic and not Tejashwi Yadav that “defeated” the party. He also slammed the role Chirag Paswan played, saying the Lok Janshakti Party leader “should have been denounced and controlled from the start”.
- The opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal advised patience, saying it is still early days. “We know a lot of people would try to play mind games in this. We want to tell our leaders and candidates that they should leave only with the victory certificate in their hands,” said senior party leader Manoj Jha, pointing to the coronavirus-related precautions.
- Tejashwi Yadav — who took the reins of the party as his father Lalu Yadav was jailed in a string of corruption cases — is leading from Raghopur. His brother Tej Pratap Yadav has won from the Hasanpur seat.
- Bihar Assembly Speaker and JD(U) leader Vijay Kumar Chaudhary is trailing RJD’s Arbind Kumar Sahni by 230 votes in Sarairanjan. Luv Sinha, the son of actor politcian Shatrughan Sinha from the Congress, is trailing his BJP rival in Bankipur.
- The declaration of results in Bihar may take more time in comparison to last assembly polls as the number of polling stations have gone up by 45 per cent, said HR Srinivas, the Chief Electoral Officer of the state. The number of polling stations have gone up from 72,723 earlier to 1,06,515, to ensure social distancing measures are implemented in view of the pandemic, reported news agency Press Trust of India.
- The election had taken place after a bitter campaign that saw the Chief Minister battling anti-incumbency, a rebellion by Lok Janshakti Party’s Chirag Paswan against his leadership — seen by many as being backed by the BJP — and Prime Minister Narendra Modi replacing Mr Kumar as the de facto face of the NDA in the state. Mr Paswan’s rebellion, which has cut into Nitsh Kumar’s votes, has hugely benefitted the BJP.