Early trends from the counting of votes in the Bihar Assembly elections on Friday showed the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) well past the halfway mark of 122 seats, with the Mahagathbandhan trailing behind, as per the Election Commission of India.
At 10:10 a.m., the NDA was leading in 147 constituencies. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) held leads on 61 seats, while Chief Minister Nitish Kumar-led Janata Dal (United) was ahead in 63 seats. Chirag Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) [LJP(RV)] was leading in 17 constituencies, and the Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) was ahead in four.
The Mahagathbandhan was ahead in 48 seats. Tejashwi Yadav’s Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) was leading on 34 seats. Its allies were performing modestly in the early trends, with the Congress ahead in 10 seats and the CPI(ML) Liberation leading in four.
Among the other parties, AIMIM, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), and Independent candidates were each ahead in one seat.
Among prominent candidates, Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Kumar Sinha was trailing in Lakhisarai, BJP’s Mangal Pandey was trailing in Siwan, while JD(U)’s Sunil Kumar was leading in Bhorey.
Counting began at 8 a.m. across all 243 constituencies under tight security. Officials started with postal ballots, and the counting of EVM votes commenced at 8:30 a.m.
A total of 4,372 counting tables and over 18,000 counting agents have been deployed. Most exit polls predicted an NDA victory, though a few projected an edge for the Mahagathbandhan.
According to the Election Commission’s press note, 2,616 candidates and 12 recognised political parties contested the two-phase polls held on November 6 and 11. No constituency required repolling.
The main contest is between the NDA, led by Nitish Kumar, and the Mahagathbandhan headed by Tejashwi Yadav. In the 2020 Assembly election, the NDA won 125 seats and formed the government, with Nitish Kumar returning as Chief Minister. In August 2022, Kumar broke ties with the BJP, resigned, and formed a government with the RJD-Congress-led Mahagathbandhan.
He later became a key figure in the opposition INDIA bloc, but the alliance with the RJD was short-lived. Ahead of the 2024 parliamentary polls, Kumar returned to the NDA.
The BJP strengthened its performance between 2015 and 2020, winning 53 of the 157 seats it contested in 2015 and 74 of 110 in 2020. The RJD also remained strong, winning 80 of 101 seats in 2015 and 75 of 144 in 2020.
JD(U) saw a decline, securing 71 of 101 seats in 2015 and 43 of 115 in 2020. The Congress also fell from 27 seats in 2015 to 19 in 2020.
The NDA comprises BJP, JD(U), LJP(RV), Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular), and Rashtriya Lok Morcha. The Mahagathbandhan includes RJD, Congress, CPI-ML, CPI, CPI(M), and the Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP).