The results of the Bihar Assembly Elections, to be declared on Tuesday, November 10, will decide if the state’s voters have decided to hand over the baton to one of the youngest chief ministerial candidates, Tejashwi Yadav and the Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance), which includes the Rashtriya Janata Dal, Congress and Left parties.
With most exit polls giving an edge to the Grand Alliance, the 15-year-old Nitish Kumar-led government is facing a tough fight in the 243 member Legislative Assembly.
While the three-phase elections with 3,558 candidates, including 370 women and a transgender, concluded on November 7, the counting of votes has already begun at 8 AM in 55 centres across 38 districts.
As per the Grand Alliance seat-sharing deal, Rashtriya Janata Dal or RJD contested 144 of 243 Assembly seats, Congress on 70 seats and Left parties contested from 29 seats-- CPI(ML) from 19 seats, and the CPI and CPI(M) six and four seats, respectively. Meanwhile, the BJP and JD(U) were allotted 121 and 122 seats in the NDA camp. Further, the Hindusthani Awam Morcha (HAM) has got seven seats from JD(U)’s share and the Vikashsheel Insaan Party (VIP) has been allotted 11 seats from the BJP.
The voter turnout in the first, second and third phases of voting being held on October 28, November 3 and November 7 respectively, were recorded at 54%, 55.7% and 56.02% respectively.
We are wrapping up our live updates but will continue updating on our social media platforms. Also tune in to our YouTube channel for detailed analyses on the results of Bihar Assembly election 2020.
EC declares first result of polls- RJD's Lalit Yadav wins Darbhanga Rural.
NDA leading on 129 - BJP 73, JDU 49, VIP 5, HAM 2
Mahagathbandhan ahead on 103 - RJD 64 (1 seat won) Congress 20, Left 18
BSP leading on 2, AIMIM on 4, LJP on 1 and independents on 4.
BJP's N. Munirathna wins RR Nagar assembly bye-election in Karnataka by over 57,000 votes, reports PTI.
Having already won the assembly seat of Abdasa, the ECI website says that the saffron party has also won Morbi and Karjan.
Congress spokesperson Shama Mohammad told NDTV, “I will not concede defeat till final numbers come.”
According to the latest EC trends, the Grand Alliance is ahead in 100 seats (1 won by RJD) with Congress leading in 19 seats, RJD on 63, and the Left parties on 17.
In Jharkhand Assembly bypolls, the JMM's Basant Soren has won from Dumka and Congress's Kumar Jaimangal emerged victorious from Bermo, according to Joint Chief Electoral Officer Hiralal Mandal
EC declares that JD(U) has won two seats in Bihar Assembly polls while maintaining a lead in over 41 seats.
The Grand Alliance is leading in 107 seats as per the latest trends in ECI.
According to EC, RJD, BJP, and JD(U) win two seats each so far, Vikassheel Insaan Party and Congress wins one.
NDA leading on 124 seats, while Mahagathbandhan is leading on 109 seats. AIMIM is leading on 4 seats, BSP leading on 2 and Independents 3.
As the RJD surged ahead of BJP, leading on 75 seats against BJP’s 72 seat lead, RJD MP Manoj Jha was quoted by ANI as saying, “Bihar is going to get its own government and nobody can stop it. I request Chief Minister whose exit is confirmed, to stop calling returning officers to slow down the counting of votes. He can only delay his defeat.”
The Congress has accused Asaduddin Owaisi's AIMIM of undermining its votes base in Bihar's crucial Seemanchal region to help the BJP, which is set to emerge as the single-largest party in the state. Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, a senior Congress leader, described Mr Owaisi as a "vote-cutter" and asked secular parties to be "alert" about him.
"BJP's tact of using (Asaduddin) Owaisi sahab's party in the Bihar elections has succeeded to an extent. All secular parties should be alert about vote-cutter Owaisi sahab," he was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
Three time CM Nitish Kumar is facing a trial by fire in these elections as discontent against the incumbent government’s claims of good governance is rife among varied sections in the state. However, his past record of shifting to the NDA as well as allying with the Mahagathbandhan, however, has left speculations wide open about the government to be formed.
Read NewsClick’s reports here and here about why Nitish Kumar’s government is facing a trial by fire.
EC says 2.7 crore out of over 4 crore EVM votes were counted till 5:30, PTI reports.
Election Commission declares results for 20 out of 243 seats -BJP and RJD win 6 each, JD(U), Congress and Vikassheel Insaan Party 2 each, AIMIM and CPI(M) 1 each.
NDA leading on 120 seats, Mahagathbandhan on 115 seats, AIMIM on 5 seats, BSP on 1 and Independents on 2.
With polling trends showing JD(U) underperforming in a big way, LJP, by drawing over 5.6% votes, seems to be succeeding in damaging Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar-led party by playing a major role in its poor show in many seats, PTI reported. While the JD(U) has won two and was leading in 41 seats, it is a big drop from the 71 seats it had won in 2015.
JD(U) spokesperson K C Tyagi told PTI that a "sinister" campaign was run against Nitish Kumar as part of a "conspiracy".
In Dehri Assembly, RJD’s Phate Bahadur Singh is leading against sitting BJP MLA Satyanarayan Singh, who is facing strong anti-incumbency over allegations that he stopped legal stone mining in the Kaimur hills in Rohtas district, which was a source of livelihood for lakhs of people.
Dehri is also home to Dalmianagar, which was once considered next only to Tata Steel Plant. However, it has remained shut for the last 35 years, and Nitish Kumar’s failure to revive the plant has created strong discontent among the residents of the area.
Read our detailed report: Bihar Elections: Once a Crown of Industries in State, Dalmianagar has Become a Ghost Town
According to EC website, NDA’s numbers have dropped down to 120 while the Grand Alliance has increased to 115, with RJD leading or won 77, Congress leading or won 20 and the Left parties leading or won in 18 seats.
BSP is leading in 1, AIMIM leading or won in 5 and Independents in 2.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah Tuesday dialled Chief Minister Nitish Kumar as the two leaders talked about the Bihar poll results and trends, news agency PTI reported quoting its sources. Though the sources refused to divulge the details of their telephonic conversation, they said they discussed the poll results and trends.
In a tweet, Rashtriya Janata Dal alleged that Nitish Kumar and Sushil Modi are pressuring DMs and RO to shift the votes in their favour in the seats with marginal leads to the RJD. They also alleged they are delaying results in over 10 seats.
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