The Congress, which has had a poor track record in Bihar, is expected to flop once again in the state that went to polls in two phases on November 6 and November 11. LIVE UPDATES
Early trends show the Congress, which is contesting 61 seats in alliance with Rashtriya Janata Dal's (RJD) Mahagathbandhan, leading only on 11 - eight seats down from what it had won last election. Tejashwi Yadav's RJD is leading on 58 out of 143 seats, CPI(ML) Liberation is leading on three out of 20 seats, and the CPI on one out of nine seats. The Vikasheel Insaan Party (VIP), which is contesting 12 seats, is leading on only one. The other two left parties - India Inclusive Party (IIP) and Communist Party of India (Marxist), which are contesting on three and four seats each, are not leading in any seats.
In the 2020 Bihar Assembly elections, the RJD had finished as the single-largest party with 75 seats. However, the Congress performed poorly, and the NDA formed the government. Congress, which was allotted 70 seats, won only 19. The Nitish Kumar-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) secured a majority in the 243-member Assembly, largely powered by the BJP's 74 seats. JD(U) won 43 seats.
If similar numbers reflect this year, Congress will prove to drag the grand alliance down.
The Opposition alliance includes RJD, Congress, and the Left parties as the main constituents. The NDA, on the other hand, comprises BJP, JD(U), Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM), and Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM).
Congress, however, remained defiant, claiming the alleged 'vote chori' by the ruling BJP.
"These are just the early trends," Congress leader Pawan Khera said.
The Bihar Assembly election results today will determine whether Nitish Kumar - the state's longest-serving chief minister - will retain his position for the fifth consecutive term. Early leads show the alliance has crossed the majority mark of 122 in the 243-member assembly.
Exit polls had also predicted that the ruling NDA would retain power in the state and the BJP would emerge as the single-largest party. An aggregate of nine exit polls has indicated that the ruling NDA will get 147 and the grand alliance 90 seats. The RJD will score between 57 and 69 seats - down from 75. The Congress, which won 19 seats last time, will slide to 14, while Prashant Kishor's Jan Suraaj Party will get one seat.
