As the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) appeared to retain the power in Bihar, the opposition party, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), which is likely to face its worst setback since 2010, has a reason to cheer -- maximum vote share. Six hours into the counting of votes, the Tejashwi Yadav-led party has received more votes than its rivals -- the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal United (JDU).
The RJD, which contested 143 seats in the 243-member assembly, has so far secured a vote share of 22.84 per cent, 1.86 per cent more than the BJP and 3.97 per cent more than the JDU.
The RJD, which finished as the single largest party in the 2020 state polls, is currently leading in only 27 seats. These polls are also likely to be the RJD's second-worst performance in a Bihar election after 2010, when it had secured just 22 seats.
Tejashwi Yadav, the chief ministerial face of the Opposition Mahagathbandhan, is also currently trailing from his Raghopur seat. He has so far received 33,347 votes and is trailing BJP's Satish Kumar by 2,288 votes.
RJD's allies in the opposition bloc, Mahagathbandhan, were also way behind, with the Congress ahead in four seats, the CPIM(L) Liberation in four, and the CPI in one.
On the other hand, the NDA is currently ahead in 201 seats, with the BJP leading in 91, the JDU in 81, Union Minister Chirag Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) in 21, Union Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi's Hindustani Awam Morcha in five, and Rajya Sabha MP Upendra Kushwaha's Rashtriya Lok Morcha in four.
The Prashant Kishor-led Jan Suraaj Party and Mukesh Sahani's Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) are trailing in all the seats they have contested.
Bihar voted in two phases -- November 6 and November 11 -- and recorded a voter turnout of over 66 per cent, the highest ever in the state since 1951.
The turnout among male voters was at 62.8 per cent, while it was 71.6 per cent among female voters.
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