The battlefields of Bihar and Madhya Pradesh: RJD takes lead

Updates:

The BJP wins Madhya Pradesh, and the NDA has enough seats (125) in Bihar to form a government. However, the earlier speculation of BJP emerging the single largest party was proved wronged as RJD emerged the largest with 75 seats, and BJP had only 74. With the final vote counts in Janata Dal (United) is at 43.

Bihar Updates:

With the last votes being counted, RJD seems to be the single largest party in the election where NDA might form a government. However, BJP is close behind having won 71 seats and leading in three. RJD has won 75 seats. The other members of the Mahagathbandhan have finished their run and the final tally looks like this:

Indian National Congress – 19

Communist Party of India – 2

Communist Party of India (Marxists) – 2

Communist Party of India (Marxists-Leninists) (Liberation) – 12

The left parties have performed astoundingly well in this election, possibly better than their counterparts in West Bengal. Meanwhile, Congress has failed to deliver on their part and they could only secure 19 out of the 70 seats they contested in.

The other allies of the National Democratic Alliance had also performed their best. While Janata Dal United seemed to have been falling at one point, they kept their pace up but still underperformed as compared to last year. The others performed as such:

Hindustani Awam Morcha – 4

Vikassheel Insaan Party – 4

Janata Dal (United) – 41 (leading in two more)

On the other side, the Asaduddin Owaisi’s All India Majilis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen and their partner Bahujan Samaj Party had struck into the vote share that had traditionally been RJD and Congress’. Political pundits believe that AIMIM might have handed the election to NDA because they inadvertently affected RJD and their alliance’s winning chances. The AIMIM had won five seats and BSP won one.

Chirag Paswan was also able to split the vote and hurt both RJD and JD (U) considerably. However, Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party could only win one seat while an Independent candidate also won one seat.

If the BJP wins in the three seats they are leading in, then the party can ensure their victory in the election alongside their alliance members.

Bihar Updates:

With the counting continues to gather speed, the EC has declared winners to 190 seats and 53 are left. With this, the Communist Party of India has gained a lead in another constituency giving the Mahagathbandhan an advantage. Meanwhile, the RJD has taken an eight-seat lead with their 62 against BJP’s 54. The Janata Dal has 32 seats and INC has 16.

While the NDA is leading, there is still chance for the RJD and alliance since many of the seats where the NDA parties are leading have a very small margin.

Bihar Updates:

With the final votes counting in, RJD makes a quick spring ahead by winning a total of 45 seats, while BJP trails behind with a total of 41 seats. Over half of the seats have been declared and the left parties are closing their leads with wins. CPI (ML)(L) wins nine seats, and the CPI (M) and CPI win two and one respectively. Janata Dal (United) is covering their flaws, and they have scored 27 seats and are leading in 16 seats.

Bihar Updates:

With more than a third of the seats declared, BJP leads the victory with 33 seats won, closely followed by RJD with 32. However, the latter is leading in 47 states while BJP is only ahead in 30. The competition is too early to call since in 32 constituencies the margin is less than 2,000 votes. Meanwhile, the AIMIM snatches two more seats taking their total tally to three, and they are continuing their lead in two seats.

The Vikassheel Insaan Party has won two seats, while Bahujan Samaj Party and Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) has won one each. The Chirag Paswan-led Lok Janshakti Party, which was at a point ahead in a few seats, is nowhere in sight.

Bihar Updates:

With the vote counting reaching the three-fourth mark, the Election Commission has announced the winners of 37 seats. BJP takes the lead with 14, and RJD and JDU follow with nine and six respectively. Meanwhile, AIMIM has won one seat, while holding on to their lead in four. The left parties and Congress maintain their leads, with three wins for the Communists and two for INC.

Celebrations are on hold as the competition tightens, as the NDA is at 121-mark and Mahagathbandhan follows it up with 114. While Janata Dal had marked a rise, they fell behind giving the RJD alliance a fighting chance.

Madhya Pradesh Updates:

With 12 wins recorded, BJP retains power in the state with 11 while leading in eight seats. INC falls behind with only one win and eight leads. Some of the wins were at really close margins.

Bihar Updates:

At this moment the party's state chief Sanjya Jaiwal dismissed the specualtions that they would abandon JD (U) and its Nitish Kumar Yadav for their poor performance. He said, "Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party chief JP Nadda had clarified this issue much before the elections."

Just as much as Nadda and Modi, Minister of Home Affairs Amit Shah had also noted that Nitish Kumar will remain the Chief Minister when the NDA comes to power. Amit Shah is expected to address the party workers.

Bihar Updates:

With around 50% votes counted, BJP, RJD and JD (U) have secured two wins each, while INC has secured two seats. Meanwhile, AIMIM and Bahujan Samaj Party are leading in four and two seats respectively.

Both alliances have seemed to hold on to their leads, but still, there are around 80 seats with margins less than 5,000 votes. This indicates that there could be changes in the lead. The BJP is at the top with 75 votes and they could emerge as the single largest party. They have gained more seats than the last election, probably taking it from RJD. Meanwhile, the JD (U) seems to be the biggest loser as they have lost advantage in over 30 seats. However, RJD is slowly catching up and thanks to the left parties a lot better than last time, the Mahagathbandhan still seems to have a chance.

The AIMIM and the Lok Janshakti Party has been able to make a dent in RJD and JD (U)’s vote share. At this time, the LJP is single-handedly playing spoilsport at 55 seats, while AIMIM and BSP are also doing similar damages. With winners being declared, there are celebrations taking place at the party offices and Amit Shah is set to arrive in the evening.

Madhya Pradesh Updates:

BJP wins three seats and INC wins one seat, while 24 seats are still being counted

Bihar Updates:

With just over 40% votes counted, the Bihar Election Commission gets ready to burn the midnight oil to finish the counting. At this point, the NDA and BJP maintain its lead with 131 seats and the Mahagathbandhan is behind with 102 seats. Rashtriya Janata Dal’s Tejashwi Yadav is leading in Raghopur, while his brother Tej Pratap Yadav has taken the lead from Janata Dal United’s Raj Kumar Ray. However, considering the number of votes still left to be counted, Tej’s lead isn’t exactly confidence-inspiring.

The left parties continue to maintain their leads, while the Congress is slowly picking up but not by much. Janata Dal also was seen to be gaining momentum, and alongside BJP this could prove dangerous for the Mahagathbandhan.

Madhya Pradesh Updates:

Maintaining their lead in the by-polls, the Bharatiya Janata Party has also won one of the 28 seats in question. Meanwhile, the party is also closing in on the INC’s lead in the other areas.

Bihar Updates:

A senior Bharatiya Janata Party official mentioned that Nitish Kumar would remain the Chief Minister even if the party emerges as the single largest in the election. Currently, BJP has lead in 74 seats and RJD following with 66. Moreover, the situation is too early to determine anything, as the Bihar Election Commission has noted that they had only counted 20% of the votes and around three crore votes remain.

Meanwhile, leads don’t mean much at this point. Around 166 seats have only a margin less than 5,000; 123 seats have margin less than 3,000; 80 seats with a margin less than 2,000, and 49 seats with a margin less than 1,000. Reportedly, the counting might go until midnight.

The Deputy Election Commissioner Chandrabhushan Kumar addressed media persons and said that the counting is happening at the same pace but the increase in EVMs and decrease in counting stations is affecting the time. There has been an increase of 63% of EVMs used for the elections with the polling booths hitting the 1.06 lakh mark from 65,000 in 2015. Around 25% vote counting completed, and around 20 rounds remain, he added.

Madhya Pradesh Updates:

Without much action, the BJP gains more lead and now are strong in 20 seats. The Congress is leading in seven seats, but two are in trouble as the margin is very small. Bahujan Samaj Party is holding on to its one lead in the state.

Bihar Updates:

The Bihar Chief Electoral Officer HR Srinivasa has announced that only about 80 lakh votes have been counted. “The counting has covered only about 20% of the total votes cast. There are over three crore votes still to be counted. Therefore, the counting of votes might go till evening for the Bihar Election,” says he.

With a fifth of the votes counted, NDA leads with 127 votes with BJP emerging as the single largest party with 72 seats. RJD lags behind with 66 seats, and the Mahagathbandhan has raised its status to 106.

Bihar Updates:

With the latest updates in, the NDA has pushed forward to lead in 127 seats, with BJP forward in 73 seats. RJD has taken a seat back and they are only strong in 60 seats, with Congress failing to give the Mahagathbandhan any momentum. However, the left parties — Communist Party of India, CPI (Marxist), and CPI (Marxist-Leninist) (Liberation) — leads in around 20 seats making them more popular in Bihar than in West Bengal. The JDU is holding out in 47 seats, while Asaduddin Owaisi’s All India Majilis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen is leading in three seats.