The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) surged ahead in the counting of votes for the Bihar Assembly elections on Friday, crossing the 180-seat mark by noon and pulling well past the halfway figure of 122 seats, according to the Election Commission of India.
By 12 p.m., the NDA was ahead in 188 constituencies. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led in 85 seats, while Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) was in front in 76. Chirag Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) [LJP(RV)] was ahead in 22 constituencies and the Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) in five.
The Mahagathbandhan was leading in 46 seats. Tejashwi Yadav’s Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) was ahead in 33 seats, while its allies — the Congress and CPI(ML) Liberation — led in seven and six seats respectively.
Among other parties, AIMIM was ahead in three constituencies, while the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Independent candidates were ahead in one seat each.
In the vote-share tally, the BJP secured 21.59% of counted votes, JD(U) 18.76% and LJP(RV) 5.36%. Within the Mahagathbandhan, the RJD registered 22.97%, Congress 8.15% and CPI(ML) Liberation 3.23%.
Counting began at 8 a.m. across all 243 constituencies under heavy security. Postal ballots were taken up first, followed by the counting of EVM votes starting at 8:30 a.m. The process involved 4,372 counting tables and more than 18,000 counting agents. Most exit polls had predicted an NDA victory, though a few suggested a narrow advantage for the Mahagathbandhan.
According to the Election Commission, 2,616 candidates representing 12 recognised political parties contested the two-phase polls held on November 6 and 11. No constituency required repolling.
The election has renewed the political battle between the NDA, led by Nitish Kumar, and the Mahagathbandhan headed by Tejashwi Yadav. In the 2020 Assembly polls, the NDA won 125 seats and formed the government, with Kumar returning as Chief Minister. He later severed ties with the BJP in August 2022 and formed a government with the RJD-Congress alliance, before rejoining the NDA ahead of the 2024 parliamentary elections.
The electoral trajectories of the key parties show sharp shifts over the past decade. The BJP improved its tally from 53 out of 157 seats contested in 2015 to 74 out of 110 in 2020. The RJD also remained strong, winning 80 of 101 seats in 2015 and 75 of 144 in 2020. The JD(U) declined from 71 of 101 seats in 2015 to 43 of 115 in 2020, while the Congress dropped from 27 seats in 2015 to 19 in 2020.
The NDA currently includes the BJP, JD(U), LJP(RV), Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) and the Rashtriya Lok Morcha. The Mahagathbandhan comprises the RJD, Congress, CPI-ML, CPI, CPI(M) and the Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP).