The BJP put up a winning performance in the Bihar Assembly polls leading the ruling NDA to obtain majority. After weeks of bitter campaigning, three phases of voting, over 15 hours of counting, and allegations of cheating, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) was announced as winner of the Bihar election in the early hours of Wednesday by the Election Commission of India. The NDA won an absolute majority in Bihar winning 125 seats, three more than the halfway mark needed for a victory. Boosted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rallies, the NDA eased past the majority mark of 122 in the 243-member Assembly. As the results trickled in Tuesday evening pointing to the NDA scraping past the 122-seat majority mark with the BJP as the dominant partner for the first time in Bihar, its leaders underlined their campaign commitment to continue with Nitish Kumar as Chief Minister. The BJP lost its position as the largest single party by a margin of one seat with the RJD. The BJP won 74 seats and the RJD 75 seats, while Nitish Kumar’s JDU won 43 seats. The opposition, led by the RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav, put up a strong fight but eventually fell short. The Congress, viewed by many as the reason for the opposition’s failure to go all the way, contested 70 seats but won only 19. The Congress got only 9.49 per cent of the vote. The RJD received 23.1 percent of the vote. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal United won 43 seats. Chirag Paswan’s LJP, which was the source of much frustration for Nitish Kumar, won just one seat.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday night, the RJD and Congress had said that there was an attempt to sabotage the Bihar polls and RJD released a list of candidates seeking victory in 119 seats. But the Election Commission dismissed the allegations overnight. The BJP, however, denied allegations of election irregularities. The NDA is currently in power with 125 seats. The NDA continued its rule by defeating the Mahagathbandhan alliance led by the Congress and the RJD.
