"Won Bihar, Next Target Bengal": Giriraj Singh As NDA Leads In Majority Seats

As the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is leading in majority seats in the Bihar Assembly elections, Union Minister Giriraj Singh said their "next target" is now West Bengal.

"Bihar had decided that a government of anarchy would not be formed. The youth of Bihar are intelligent. This is the victory of development. We have won Bihar. Now it is Bengal's turn," the minister said.

Singh added that it was clear from day one that Bihar "would not accept a government of chaos, corruption, or loot".

"People chose peace, justice, and development. Even if today's youth didn't witness those earlier days, their elders did. When Tejashwi Yadav was in government even briefly, people saw the attempt to spread disorder," he said.

Available leads show the BJP-led NDA has crossed the majority mark of 122 seats in the 243-member Bihar assembly and is currently leading in 160 seats. The opposition Mahagathbandhan, led by Tejashwi Yadav's RJD, is ahead in 78. Poll strategist Prashant Kishor's Jan Suraaj, expected to flop, is leading in two seats.

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.

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.