Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah tweeted late Tuesday night to thank the people of Bihar for “backing the NDA”, as results of the Assembly election continue to trickle in, showing the ruling NDA leading in 122 seats and the RJD-led Opposition alliance in 113 seats.
The PM said that the NDA would “work for the balanced development of every person, every region” of the state. Minutes earlier Shah posted: “Every section of Bihar has… backed the NDA’s development agenda.” The Home Minister also thanked people for support and congratulated party members for bypoll victories in several states.
“Bihar has taught the world the first lesson of democracy. Today Bihar has told the world again how democracy is strengthened. A record number of poor, deprived and women of Bihar also voted and today have also given their decisive decision for development,” PM Modi tweeted in Hindi.
“The poor in villages, farmers, labourers, merchants, shopkeepers and every section of Bihar have relied on the NDA’s mantra of sabka saath, sabka vikas, sabka vishwas. I again assure every citizen of Bihar that for the balanced development of every person, every region, we will continue to work with full dedication,” PM Modi tweeted.
According to trends from the Election Commission, the ruling NDA is leading on 122 seats and the Mahagathbandhan on 113 seats in the 243-member Assembly.
The BJP-led NDA fielded candidates on 121 seats, while the Nitish Kumar-led JD(U) contested on 122 seats.
While BJP leaders said that the NDA was coming back to power in the state due to “good governance” in Bihar, a delegation of the RJD and the Congress went to meet officials in the state electoral office in Patna late on Tuesday evening alleging “tampering” in counting on several seats.
“There are over dozens of seats where tampering has been done. They are trying to change the people’s mandate, but even after all such ill-intended attempts we’ll form the government,” RJD leader Manoj Jha told reporters after meeting Election Commission officials. “Election Commission (EC) has assured us that they will try to address all our grievances. We trust the EC but not district administration,” he added.
Among the NDA constituents, the BJP has so far won 48 seats and is leading on 24, the JD-U has won 30 seats and is leading on 12, Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) has won four seats while former Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi’s Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) has won three seats and is leading on one seat.
Among the constituents of Mahagathbandhan, the RJD has won 56 seats and is leading on 21, the Congress has won 13 seats and is leading on six, the CPI has won one seat and is leading on two, the CPI-M has won two seats, and the CPI(M-L) has won nine seats and is leading on three.
Among other parties, the AIMIM has won four seats and is leading on one, BSP has won one seat and Chirag Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party is yet to either win a seat or lead on any. One independent candidate has also won.
With his party poised to win five seats, AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi said, “It is a great moment for us as the people of Bihar have honoured us with so many votes”. “Our leaders and workers have put a lot of effort into strengthening our party in Bihar. We will try our best to fulfil the promises made,” he said.
The results have been delayed as the number of polling stations were increased from 72,723 earlier to 1,06,515, an increase of 46.5 per cent over the previous election, to ensure adherence to social distancing measures in view of the coronavirus pandemic.
The polls were held in three phases.
WITH AGENCY INPUTS
