*** Bihar election results: Election Commission website gives Grand Alliance lead in 142 seats | THE DAILY TRIBUNE | KINGDOM OF BAHRAIN

Bihar election results: Election Commission website gives Grand Alliance lead in 142 seats

11:45am: The Election Commission website (http://eciresults.nic.in/) is now showing trends for 220 of the total 243 seats. The Grand Alliance is now leading at 142, while the NDA is ahead at 68.

11:40am: Mamata Banerjee congratulates Nitish Kumar and Lalu Yadav on Twitter, while taking a dig at the BJP. She wrote: “Congratulations @NitishKumar ji, Lalu ji & your full team. And all my Bihar brothers & sisters. Victory of tolerance, defeat of intolerance.”

11:35am: According to the Election Commission website, of the 215 seats for which trends are available, the Grand Alliance is leading at 140 seats, while the NDA is ahead at 66.

11:24am: The Election Commission website is showing trends for 210 seats out of total 243 constituencies. EC says Grand Alliance is leading at 130 seats, while the NDA is ahead at 71.

11:18am: Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal congratulates Nitish Kumar on “historic victory”, says PTI.

11:10am: The Election Commission website is now showing trends for 182 seats. EC says Grand Alliance is leading at 113 seats, while the NDA is ahead at 61.

10:53am: The Election Commission website now shows trends for 169 seats. The Grand Alliance is leading at 105, while the NDA is ahead at 58.

10:52am: BJP leader Ram Madhav concedes defeat. He wrote on Twitter: “What a comeback for JDU+. In 1 hour their leads hv overtaken dat of ours. It looks a photo finish. What an election”.

10:47am: Most of the election results projections across media are now giving a clear lead to Grand Alliance, or Mahagathbandhan.

10:45am: The Election Commission website now shows trends for 150 seats. The Grand Alliance is leading at 92, while the NDA is ahead at 52.

10:26am: According to the Election Commission website, of the trends available for 125 seats, the Grand Alliance is leading at 77 seats, while the NDA lags with leads at 43 seats.

10:22am: Early trends for 212 seats are in, showing the NDA leading at 104, Grand Alliance at 81 and others at 27.

10:14am: The NDA is now leading at 99, while the Grand Alliance is ahead at 80. Others are leading at 5.

10:10am: Confusion over Bihar polls continued among television channels was going on as some channels showed a clear lead for National Democratic Alliance (NDA), while some television channel showed that Grand Alliance was fast catching up.

10:04am: Trends at 10am show the gap closing between the two competing sides in Bihar. The NDA is now leading at 97, while the Grand Alliance is ahead at 73. Others are leading at 5.

9:47am: Trends for 159 seats show the NDA leading at 92, Grand Alliance at 64 and others at 3.

9:40am: Lalu Prasad is heading for a major setback as Tejashwi Yadav is trailing in Raghopur constituency, while Tej Pratap is trailing in Mahua.

9:31am: Trends at 9:30am show the NDA is currently leading at 83 seats, the Grand Alliance at 58, with others ahead at 3.

9:16am: Early trends are now available for 125 seats. The NDA is currently leading at 74 seats, the Grand Alliance at 49, with others ahead at 2.

9:11am: Narendra Modi-led NDA is now leading at 55, according to initial trends for Bihar elections, while the Grand Alliance is leading at 33.

9:00am: The NDA’s position is getting stronger in Bihar, with trends showing it leading at 52 seats, while the Grand Alliance is lagging with leads at 29 seats.

8:48am: Initial trends for 39 seats show the NDA leading at 26, while the Grand Alliance is leading at 13.

8:44am: Hindustani Awam Morcha’s Jitan Ram Manjhi is leading from Makhdumpur, while RJD’s Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, son of Lal Prasad Yadav, is also leading from Raghopur.

8:37am: Initial trends for 28 seats show the NDA leading at 18, while the Grand Alliance is leading at 10.

8:29am: Early trends are in for 17 seats, of which 12 shows the NDA in the lead, while Grand Alliance is leading on the rest of the 5.

8:17am: Counting of votes for all the 243 seats in the Bihar Assembly elections began at 8am, according to the Election Commission (http://eciresults.nic.in/). Initial trends for 10 seats show the NDA leading at 6, while the Grand Alliance is leading at 4.

Counting of votes in the Bihar assembly elections is being billed as a showdown between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chief minister Nitish Kumar.

Most of the exit polls have predicted a close contest between the BJP-led NDA and the grand alliance of JD(U)-RJD-Congress with a slight edge to the chief minister Nitish Kumar-led grouping.

However, two of them, including Today’s Chanakya and the one done by Hansa for NDTV, have given a clear majority to the NDA.

While Kumar is not in the fray, among the prominent faces in the battle are mahadalit leader Jitan Ram Manjhi, who has fought from two seats, and two sons of RJD chief Lalu Prasad have also made their electoral debut. The five-phased elections, which started on 12 October and ended on 5 November, saw the lead campaigners from both the sides trading bitter accusations that at times turned personal.

Over a dozen FIRs were lodged by the poll authorities in Bihar against the top leaders of the two alliances relating to their alleged hate speeches. The accused included BJP chief Amit Shah, RJD supremo Lalu Prasad and JD(U) president Sharad Yadav.

Modi had led the NDA charge by holding over 30 rallies while Shah held 85-odd public meetings. A win for the saffron alliance will help BJP shake off the opposition attack on it over the “climate of intolerance” and embolden it to push its agenda ahead of the Winter Session of Parliament. However, a loss for it will reinvigorate the opposition ranks and help Kumar acquire a key role in national politics after he suffered a big setback in the Lok Sabha polls.

A defeat for the grand alliance will deliver a body blow to the politics of Kumar and Prasad from which it may take a long time for them to recover. As much as 56.80%, the highest in assembly election in the state’s history, of the 6.68 crore voters have exercised their franchise.



Caption : As much as 56.80%, the highest in assembly election in the state’s history, of the 6.68 crore voters have exercised their franchise. (Photo: PTI)