The counting of votes in the Bihar Assembly elections began at 8 am on Tuesday, 10 November, with the Nitish Kumar-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) facing competition from the Tejashwi Yadav-led Mahagathbandhan.
Early trends for the Bihar elections show the National Democratic Alliance is currently leading in 125 seats and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) is leading in 80.
This election will be the first, after many years, without the involvement of jailed RJD leader Lalu Prasad Yadav or late Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) leader Ram Vilas Paswan.
The voting for Bihar elections ended with 55.22 percent votes polled in the third phase of polling on Saturday, 7 November, the Election Commission (EC) said. The same phase has seen a turnout of 56.66 percent in the 2015 elections
Catch all the key highlights of the Bihar Assembly Elections 2020 here:
Bihar Election Results Key Highlights
16:00 pm: Nearly 50% of the Votes Have Been Counted
According to News18, approximately 50 percent of the votes have been counted so far. The counting has been slow owing to the COVID-19 pandemic.
14:50 pm: Bihar Election 2020 Party-wise Vote Share
1:40 pm: ‘Glitch Free Counting So Far,’ Says Election Commission
The Election Commission in its press briefing on Tuesday stated that there has been an absolutely glitch-free counting process so far. Slightly more than 1 crore votes have been counted in Bihar.
12:40 pm: EC to Hold Press Conference at 1:30 pm
The Election Commission of India will hold a press conference scheduled at 1.30 pm. ECI officers, including Deputy Election Commissioners Sudeep Jain, Chandrabhushan Kumar and Ashish Kundra, will brief the media virtually.
12:30 pm: Vote Counting Slower Than Usual
Even though the Election Commission increased the number of polling booths in Bihar to almost double in view of COVID-19 safety and health protocols.
11:55 am: NDA Crosses Half-Way Mark
NDA seems to be racing ahead with leads in 125 seats. The BJP is leading in 70, JDU in 48 constituencies. The VIP is leading in six seats, while HAM is leading in one.
11:33 am: Bihar Election 2020 Party-wise Vote Share
10:45 am: Election Commission Trends for 200 of 243 Seats
NDA leading on 102 seats - BJP 54, JDU-42, Vikassheel Insaan Party-5, HAM-1
Mahagathbandhan ahead on 88 seats - RJD 57, Congress 17, Left 14.
BSP leading on one seat, LJP on 4, while AIMIM is ahead on 2 and independents on 3.
10:25 am: Nitish Kumar Party Spokesperson Concedes Defeat, Blames it on COVID
With results still coming in, Janata Dal United spokesperson KC Tyagi on Tuesday conceded defeat in a statement on NDTV, adding that the party was “not defeated by RJD or Tejashwi Yadav but nation's curse (COVID)”..
Most exit polls had predicted the the RJD-Congress alliance is heading for clear victory and Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) BJP alliance is its way out.
10:05 am: Election Commission Releases Partywise Vote Share Graph
9:10 am: BJP Emerging as Largest Party Within NDA
According to official Election Commission trends, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leads in the Darbhanga Assembly seat and is also emerging as the single-largest party within the NDA.
8:30 am: RJD Emerging as Largest Party
Early trends are showing the RJD emerging as the single-largest party. The party had contested in 144 seats and is currently leading in 19.
The RJD is also leading in Munger, which saw high tension on the third day of voting.
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