Bihar’s electorate kept the National Democratic Alliance and Mahagathbandhan parties on tenterhooks for most of Tuesday, but counting trends late at night pointed to a narrow but clear edge for the NDA.
Till 1 a.m., results for 220 of the 243 seats had been declared on the EC website. Votes continued to be counted, with the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leading in 75 seats and the BJP running close at 74. The Janata Dal (United) was ahead in 43 seats, while the Congress (19 leads) and the Left parties with 16 seats made the competition stiffer.
Overall, the NDA was ahead with 125 leads, while the Mahagathbandhan was leading in 110 seats at the time of writing. The number of seats required for a simple majority is 122.
The All-India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) was ahead in five seats, the BSP and an Independent in one seat each.
The CPI-ML (Liberation), a first-time RJD ally, put in a creditable performance, leading in 12 of the 19 seats that were allocated to it.
As counting progressed, “victory celebrations” began at the offices of both the BJP and the JD(U).
“People of Bihar have blessed us again and we’re thankful to them for this... NDA under Prime Minister Narendra Modi has done well and we will form the government again in the State,” State BJP president Sanjay Jaiswal told reporters.
Later, after a meeting of top Bihar BJP leaders convened at senior State leader Sushil Kumar Modi’s residence, both Mr. Modi and party’s State in-charge Bhupendra Yadav left to meet Chief Minister Nitish Kumar at his official residence.
At the RJD headquarters, party workers remained glued to televisions screens hoping that the number would turn in their favour.
RJD hopeful
“According to our real-time data, we are ahead on 84 seats. At many places, even postal votes have not been counted. Please don’t lose heart till the last minute,” the official RJD handle tweeted.
Late in the evening, the RJD alleged that the Chief Minister and others were putting pressure on district officials to contain the Mahagathbandhan at “105-110 seats”.
“A change of government is certain. I am convinced that you will see [a] change of government [in Bihar],” RJD leader and spokesperson Manoj Jha told reporters in Patna.
Political fortunes see-sawed through the day. BJP leader and Minister in the Nitish Kumar Cabinet, Suresh Kumar Sharma, lost the poll from Muzaffarpur.
JD(U) leader Chandrika Rai, the estranged father-in-law of Tej Pratap Yadav, elder son of Lalu Prasad, lost from Parsa in Saran district.
Tej Pratap however, won from Hasanpur in Samastipur district defeating his nearest rival of the JD(U) Rajkumar Rai by over 20,000 votes.
Senior RJD leader Abdul Bari Siddiqui, however, could not win his seat from Keoti. Former MP and Jan Adhikar Party chief Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav, too, lost the poll from Madhepura. Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) president Jitan Ram Manjhi, an NDA ally, defeated his rival and former State Assembly Speaker Uday Narayan Chaudhury from Imamganj in Gaya district.
Imprisoned bahubali (strongman), Anant Singh, who contested on an RJD ticket this time, won from the Mokama.
Among other smaller parties who had fought the polls, the AIMIM was leading in five seats in the seemanchal, or border, constituencies in Kishanganj, Purnia, Araria and Katihar districts. The Plurals Party chief Pushpam Priya lost from Bankipore which was retained by sitting BJP MLA Nitin Navin. Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP), and another 11 political parties, who had made their debut in the State Assembly polls, failed to win even a single seat.