Bihar Election Final Results 2020 Latest Updates: A day after NDA retained power in the Bihar Assembly polls, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday addressed Bharatiya Janata Party workers in Delhi. He said that the BJP was the only party to increase its seats, despite being in power for three terms.
Addressing BJP workers following the victory of NDA in Bihar Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said the saffron party now had footprint across the country and results had made it clear that people would now support only those who work honestly for development.
LJP leader Chirag Paswan on Wednesday defended his decision of fielding candidates against the JD(U) in large numbers in the Bihar assembly polls which hugely damaged its prospects, saying he wanted Nitish Kumar's party to be "emaciated" and succeeded in the endeavour.
Bihar BJP president Sanjay Jaiswal on Wednesday credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi's welfare policies for the ruling NDA's win in the assembly polls and said all anti-incumbency claims have been negated by the mandate for a fourth term to the Nitish Kumar government.
A day after the BJP-JD(U) alliance won assembly polls in Bihar, the BJP's general secretary and the state in-charge Bhupender Yadav on Wednesday said the NDA was cheated by its former member LJP of Chirag Paswan in the elections and the confusion created by them caused some losses.
The Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) leader sai that he wanted the BJP to emerge stronger from the election and was happy with his party's impact. "Like all parties, I too would like to win as many seats as possible, but my aim for these elections was to ensure that the BJP emerges a strong party in the state and we are happy with the impact we have had," Chirag Paswan told reporters this morning.
There is no question of replacing Nitish Kumar as Chief Minister of Bihar, the BJP said today, a day after it one-upped its ally for the first time in elections in the state, reports NDTV. The BJP won 74 of Bihar's 243 seats, taking the NDA's tally past the majority mark, while Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal United was restricted to 43.
LJP leader Chirag Paswan said around 25 lakh voters trusted the party's 'Bihar First, Bihari First' vision, leading to a vote share of six percent despite having contested alone.
A stellar performance by the BJP enabled the ruling NDA to attain a simple majority in the Bihar assembly notwithstanding a sharp fall in the tally of the JD(U) headed by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, according to final results announced early Wednesday. The saffron party, which had contested 110 seats, won 74 while the JD(U) which fought 115, won only 43 seats.
The NDA has officially won the Bihar polls with the Election Commission website declaring its win in 122 seats. The alliance is leading in all of the final three seats,
NDA managed to secure 125 seats, above the halfway mark of 122 needed to form the government in the state, despite a close contest fought by RJD-lead Mahagathbandhan. The RJD secured 75 seats, giving the BJP-JDU partnership a tough fight through the day. It also won the highest vote share at 23.1% so far.
RJD has alleged that the Bihar government has been interfering in the election process by pressuring returning officers in rejecting postal ballots to push closely contested seats in favour of the ruling alliance. EC data shows that RJD has three such seats, while CPI M-L got one. BJP won one seat while JD(U) got four.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has finally declared its win on Twitter. Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated the alliance partners and BJP cadre for winning the people's trust while Home Minister Amit Shah expressed gratitude to voters for choosing the NDA's politics of development.
NDA candidates were leading in 38 places and opposition nominees in 34. If the present results and trends available are any indication of things to come, the NDA will end up with 122 seats, just the half-way mark required to form the government, and the opposition Mahagathbandhan 113.
A lacklustre show by the Congress in Bihar seems to have proved costly for the opposition grand alliance, as it dragged down the RJD too from the government formation in the Hindi heartland state. While the Congress lost ground in Bihar, it also suffered significant electoral losses in Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat, losing a majority of bypolls in key states that saw the BJP surging ahead.
The Election Commission of India has responded to RJD's allegations that their candidates were congratulated for win at several seats but later a recount was held. The ECI officials said that according to an order dated, 18 May 2019, in places where the margin of victory is less than the total number of postal ballots rejected as invalid is more than margin of victory, it is mandatory to reverify rejected ballots. The reverification should be mandatorily videographed.
Sharing a purported list of winning candidates from as many as 119 seats, the RJD claimed returning officers had already congratulated its candidates on their win, but is now refusing to issue certificates claiming that they have lost. A delegation including RJD and Congress leaders is visiting the Election Commission office in Patna.
The tables have reversed once again as the BJP has once again raced ahead of RJD to become the single-largest party. With that the NDA lead has also grown to a more comfortable number of 126. But the Mahagathbandhan has refused to concede the polls yet. The RJD has insisted that the Election Commission has held back the 'victory certificates' on at least 12 seats where the contest is close. They are saying that the final numbers will eventually stack up in their favour.
"NDA is pressuring the DMs in closely contested seats for a favourable verdict. In places where we were told we had won and were only waiting for victory certificates, now we are told that we will recount the votes. There are places where we are requesting a recount but there they are not allowing a recount. So what is this anomaly," said RJD leader Manoj Jha.
Among others, the Bahujan Samaj Party is leading at 1 seat, two Independents are ahead in 2, while the AIMIM is leading on 5 seats. It will be interesting to watch whether these parties decide to side with one giant alliance versus other in the event of a really slim margin or even a hung house.
In a major turnaround since early morning leads, the RJD has slowly crawled ahead of the BJP, becoming the single-largest party. While BJP is leading in 72 seats, RJD is now leading in 75 – making them the single-largest party at this point of time (7 pm).
The Election Commission has said that by 5.30 pm, 2.7 crore votes had been counted out of total 4.11 crore EVM votes. While it did not have the exact count on postal ballots, it said that at least 1.6 lakh postal ballots had been sent out to service voters. All those that had been returned till 8 am Tuesday will be included in the counting. In addition there were 50,000 expected absentee ballots from PWD personnel and those suffering from COVID-19 or under quarantine. There were also an unknown number of poll officials who were allowed to cast there votes separately because they were on election duty during polling.
In a major turnaround since early morning leads, the RJD has slowly crawled ahead of the BJP, becoming the single-largest party. The Tejashwi lead party, at the moment (5.50 pm) has 73 wins + leads while the BJP is at 72. The Mahagathbandhan collectively is at 111 while NDA is at 123, which is a noticeable change from just two hours ago when BJP was poised at a comfortable majority with leads at 130 seats.
The leads are changing by the minutes in the neck-and-neck race for control over Bihar Assembly. The NDA, which had dropped below the magic number just 30 minutes ago, has made a come back and is now ahead on 126 seats (including wins). The Mahagathbandhan is not too far behind with leads + win on 108 seats.
NDA, which was poised to come back to power in early trends has lost some steam as per 5 pm data on ECI websites. The four constituents of the alliance are now ahead on 121 seats only (one short of the required 122)
The NDA has maintained an overall lead with BJP ahead in 74 seats, HAM in 2, VIP in 5 seats and JD(U) leading in 49. However, RJD has said that it's local inputs suggest there will be a late-night turn around after rural area votes are also taken into account
The Election Commission of India has declared the first winner from the Rashtriya Janata Dal. The NDA, however, has maintained an overall lead with BJP ahead in 74 seats, HAM in 2, VIP in 5 seats and JD(U) leading in 49.
According to the latest trends, RJD leader and chief ministerial candidate Tejashwi Yadav is leading with over 8,500 votes in his constituency Raghopur.
The current leads show that ruling NDA is already past the halfway mark. However, reports suggest that it may be too early to call the results as the margin is less than a thousand votes on at least 41 seats.
The Janata Dal United-led National Democratic Alliance on Tuesday surged ahead of the Rashtriya Janata Dal-led United Progressive Alliance and is above the half-way mark. The majority mark to form the government is 122 in the 243-seat Bihar Assembly.
The National Democratic Alliance has crossed the majority mark (122 seats out of 243) in early leads, according to the Election Commission figures. Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal-United, however, has fallen far behind ally BJP and the saffron party has emerged as the single largest party in the contest.
The ruling NDA and the Opposition Grand Alliance are locked in a neck-and-neck fight as early trends for 125 seats of the 243-member Bihar Assembly have become available.
As per the Bihar early trends, BJP is now leading in 45 seats, the JD(U) in 34 and the Vikassheel Insaan Party in three seats. While, the RJD has overtaken BJP and leading in 52 seats. The Congress is ahead in 14 seats and the Left parties are ahead in 12 seats.
Early leads are giving a clear edge to the Mahagathbandhan in Bihar, as predicted by most exit polls, leading in 94 seats against 71 for the NDA. In a setback for Nitish Kumar, the BJP is ahead of the JD(U) in terms of leads.
The BJP is zooming ahead in the early trends, having an upper hand over JD(U). Meanwhile, the Rashtriya Janata Dal is leading in 9 seats and the Congress is ahead in five seats.
The fate of the Nitish Kumar-led JD(U) government, which has helmed Bihar for a decade and a half, will be decided on Tuesday as counting of the 243-member legislative Assembly is currently underway.
Counting of votes got underway on Tuesday morning for the three-phase Bihar assembly elections that may herald a new era in state politics, with exit polls predicting a victory for the RJD-led Grand Alliance.
The exercise will decide the electoral fate of over 3,700 candidates who are in the race to win the 243 seats of the state assembly.
After the conclusion of the three-phase Bihar Assembly elections on Saturday, the counting of votes will begin today, 10 November (Tuesday).
The term of the 243-member Bihar Legislative Assembly comes to an end on 29 November. Of the total strength, 38 seats are reserved for SCs and two for STs.
The Election Commission has made elaborate arrangements for counting, by setting up 55 counting centres in 38 districts across Bihar, with 414 counting halls set up.
Three counting centres each have been set up in four districts of East Champaran (which has 12 assembly constituencies), Gaya (10 seats), Siwan (eight constituencies) and Begusarai (seven constituencies).
In the first phase, 71 seats spread across 16 districts went to poll on 28 October (1,066 candidates), while in the second, voters in 94 seats of 17 districts exercised their franchise on 3 November ( 1,463 candidates). In the third phase, 78 seats spread in 15 districts went to polls on 7 November (1,204 candidates).
As per the guidelines set up the Election Commission due to the coronavirus pandemic, no more than 7 counting tables will be allowed in the counting halls, to maintain social distancing.
Face masks will be mandatory for entering into the counting centres besides sanitisers will be kept in adequate quantity there.
In the state capital Patna, votes for all the 14 Assembly constituencies will be counted at just one centre set up at AN College. The poll panel said it is readying 30 counting halls at the college.
Bihar chief electoral officer HR Srinivasa said the Election Commission has established a three-tier security system for strong rooms (housing the Electronic Voting Machines) and the counting centres.
The inner core is being guarded by the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs), then there is the Bihar Military Police (BMP) and then the district police, he told reporters.
"We have deployed 19 companies of CAPF just for the security of the strong rooms and counting centres.
Besides, we have 59 CAPF companies to ensure law and order during and in the aftermath of the counting process," he said. One CAPF company comprises around 100 personnel.
The CEO said the Election Commission will strictly deal with any "anti-social" elements who indulge in "hooliganism" during or in the aftermath of the counting.
Additional Director General of Police (Headquarters) Jitendra Kumar said CCTV cameras have been installed in the control rooms.
"Their display is in the District Election Officers offices. And they are also being monitored regularly by the Chief Electoral Officer," he said.
In Bhagalpur district, which has two counting centres Government Polytechnic College, Barari and Women's ITI — preparations are being made for the November 10 results for seven assembly seats.
Display screens are being set up and two tents being erected at each counting centre for journalists and security personnel.
Arrangements are being made to put seven tables in each of the 14 halls.
Prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) have been imposed in and around the counting centres to prevent the gathering of people.
In Bhojpur district, the votes for all the seven assembly constituencies will be counted at one centre set up at Bazar Samiti Godown, Arrah.
In the polls this year, the Rashtriya Janata Dal is contesting from 144 seats, the Congress 70, and the Left parties will together contest from 29 seats.
Majority exit polls released after the third and final round of polls suggest that Tejashwi Yadav-led Mahagathbandhan might have an edge over the NDA.
But, who will actually get the magic figure of 122 in the house of 243 will be known only after the votes are counted on Tuesday.
Despite COVID-19, Bihar voter turnout higher than 2015
Bihar recorded 57.05 percent turnout in the Assembly elections this year, marginally higher than that of 2015 despite the COVID-19 pandemic, as per official data.
The voter turnout in the elections held in 2015 was 56.66 percent, the Election Commission data showed. Female voter turnout this year was 59.69 percent, higher than that of the male voters 54.68 per cent.
This year's turnout was pushed up by relatively aggressive polling in the third phase in which 78 seats in the 15 districts of Kosi-Seemanchal, Mithilanchal and Tirhut voted.
The turnout in the third phase of the elections, held on 7 November, is almost 60 percent compared to 55.68 percent in the first phase and 55.70 percent in the second.
In last year's Lok Sabha elections, 57.33 percent turnout was recorded.
No re-polling was ordered in any constituency where elections were held in the third phase, sources said.
Poll observers and returning officers who were on duty in the third phase have completed the scrutiny and no repoll has been recommended, they said.
This was the first major election held in the country amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
In order to facilitate COVID-19 patients or those suspected of having the infection, the commission had extended the polling duration by an hour.
Around 5.30 lakh election officials were given special training in the wake of the pandemic.
With inputs from PTI
