Bihar Election Result 2020 LIVE Updates: With the NDA getting a majority in the Bihar Assembly, all eyes are now on the formation of the next government which will likely be sworn in soon after the Diwali festivities get over later this week
Bihar Election Result 2020 LATEST Updates: With the NDA getting a comfortable majority in the Bihar Assembly, all eyes are now on the formation of the next government which will likely be sworn in soon after the Diwali festivities get over later this week, PTI quoted sources as saying.
They said JD(U) president Nitish Kumar will be back as the chief minister for yet another term in office.
Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday alleged irregularities in the Bihar Assembly polls and claimed that the Grand Alliance of RJD, Congress, and the Left was poised to win the election but "could not do so at the last moment".
"We wanted to talk about the irregularities done with us (in Uttar Pradesh), but a more serious one has happened in Bihar. Tejashwi Yadav was poised to make his government but could not do so at the last moment. All those who have faith in democratic values are unhappy today and asking if this is how elections will be fought," he told reporters.
Akhilesh claimed that with only 14,000 more votes, the Opposition alliance would have emerged as victorious in Bihar. "The Bihar election was more nail-biting than the US (presidential) polls. I do not know which trick the BJP used. This is the specialty of the BJP," the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said.
Nitish Kumar may take oath as Bihar chief minister for a fourth successive term next week but the date has not been finalised yet, PTI reported on Thursday. However, speculation is rife in political circles that he will be sworn in on Monday.
He will visit the state party headquarters later on Thursday to meet the newly elected MLAs and other JD(U) functionaries. Raj Bhavan sources said they have not received any communication about when the swearing-in ceremony will take place.
Top BJP leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, have strongly endorsed Kumar as the chief minister.
RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav on Thursday said that the party had lost 20 seats by a "wafer-thin" margin and also accused the NDA of dhan, chhal and bal (money, muscle and deceit).
"We lost 20 seats by a wafer-thin margin. In many constituencies, as many as 900 postal ballots were invalidated,"he said.
Nitish Kumar is likely to take oath as the Chief Minister of Bihar for the fourth time on 16 November, reports said on Thursday even as Opposition parties alleged fraud.
The Left parties alleged on Wednesday that there were "irregularities" during the final stages of counting of votes in the Bihar Assembly polls and said the issue will be raised with the Election Commission (EC) soon.
The three Left parties — Communist Party of India, Communist Party of India (Marxist) and Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) —won an impressive 16 of the 29 seats they contested in the Bihar polls.
"The Left parties are of the opinion that there were certain clear irregularities during the last stages of the counting that need to be seriously addressed by the Election Commission. Along with other partners of the Mahagathbandhan, the Left parties will take up these matters with the Election Commission of India," the three parties said in a joint statement.
Of the 16 seats, the CPI-ML (Liberation) won 12, while the CPI and the CPM won two each.
Sources said that the Left parties and their alliance partners RJD are deliberating on the issue of malpractice during the counting of votes on Tuesday and have the support of the Congress.
The CPI(ML), which demanded a recount in three seats, will seek CCTV footage from the counting centres before taking a final call on the matter, sources said.
"The EC must ensure recounting of votes in all seats where victory margin is narrower than postal ballots. Several MGB candidates have been declared defeated by extremely narrow margins and irregularities have been reported in the counting process," said Dipankar Bhattacharya, CPI(ML) general secretary, in a tweet late on Tuesday night.
Sources also indicate that the parties are seeking information on 11 seats, all of which were close contests. In these cases, the Mahagathbandhan candidates were announced winners at the counting centres, but certificates were issued to their competitors after some time, sources said.
In their statement on Wednesday, the Left parties thanked the voters of Bihar for their support to the Mahagathbandhan.
"This included the candidates of the Left parties, which contributed to the Mahagathbandhan putting up a spirited contest in the election against the ruling BJP-JD(U) and its government.
"The response of the youth and the people to the issues concerning people's livelihood and employment was heartening," the statement said.
It also said the difference in the vote share of both the alliances was "very, very small".
While the BJP-led alliance lost 12 per cent votes compared to what it had polled in the 2019 Lok Sabha election, incumbent Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal (United) won only 43 seats, as compared to the 71 it had won in the last Assembly election, the statement said.
"The chief minister's defection from the Mahagathbandhan to the BJP is, amongst other factors, rejected by a large section of the electorate. The BJP and Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi raised the communal agenda to a very high pitch and sought to communally polarise the electorate. This was effectively met largely by the Mahagathbandhan's focus on the economic distress caused by the lockdown and the utter failure of the BJP and its allies in containing the pandemic and galloping unemployment," it said.
The Left parties said their presence in the Bihar Assembly will be utilised to "advance the cause of the toiling people, raising crucial issues like jobs and on social/economic injustices".
"The struggle to achieve these objectives shall vigorously continue," the three parties said.
A stellar performance by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) enabled the ruling NDA to attain a simple majority in the 243-member Bihar Assembly notwithstanding a sharp fall in the tally of the JD(U).
