The Election Commission of India is addressing the media. More than 1 crore votes have been counted and there is still significant ground to be covered in Bihar, as per the poll body.
“We have many seats where we have to count 50 rounds. On average, each seat could have a counting of approximately 30-35 rounds. Over 4 crore and 10 lakh votes were cast and we have counted 95 lakh. Our counting will continue late into the evening,” Bihar Chief Electoral Officer HR Srinivas has told ANI.
Bihar Assembly Election 2020 results will be announced on November 10. The polls were held in three phases on October 28, November 3, and November 7. The term of the 243-member Bihar Legislative Assembly comes to an end on November 29. 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 centers in 38 districts across Bihar, with 414 counting halls set up.
Three counting centers 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 state capital Patna, votes for all the 14 Assembly constituencies will be counted at just one center set up at AN College. The poll panel said it is readying 30 counting halls at the college.
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. 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.
Despite the coronavirus pandemic, Bihar saw a considerable voter turnout, with Phase 1 recording 54% polling marginally lower than 54.75% for the same seats in 2015 elections. Similarly, Phase 2 witnessed 55.7% voter turnout as compared to 56.17% recorded last time. A voter turnout of 56.02% was recorded for the third and final phase of the Bihar Assembly elections.
Stay tuned to Newsd for all the updates.
RJD leader and elder son of Lalu Prasad Yadav Tej Pratap Yadav won from Hasanpur by over 21,000 votes.
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, adding that at least 50 percent counting was completed in all seats, while that number was up to 70 percent in several more smaller constituencies. The ECI said that the results would be clearer by later tonight, but it did not rule out a query that if counting can continue till next morning.
Counting of votes for the Bihar assembly elections will take longer than usual and continue till late in the night because of 63 per cent increase in the number of EVMs, the Election Commission said on Tuesday asserting that the pace of counting of votes is not slow. Briefing reporters in the national capital as the counting progressed in Bihar, EC officials said most results are expected by late tonight.
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 RJD has claimed that it is currently leading 84 seats and has asked people to stay with it till the end.
"According to our realtime data, we are now ahead in 84 seats. In many places, postal votes have not yet been counted. Please stick till the end. For example, in Mehnar leading with 12,000 votes, in Fatuha with 14,000 votes and in Suryagarh with 10,000 votes but we seem to be behind on TV," the RJD tweeted.
According to India Today, BJP candidate Awadhesh Singh has won over the RJD's Deo Kumar Chaurasia with a margin of 2,990 votes.
Pushpam Priya Choudhary, who formed a new party called Plurals Party ahead of the Bihar Polls has levelled serious allegations of EVM hacking and rigged elections.
JDU's Chandrika Rai has lost his seat to RJD's Chhote Lal Ray from Parsa Constituency. Chandrika Rai won the Parsa seat five times between 1985 and the February 2005 polls, which yielded a fractured verdict. Rai made an entry into politics in 1985 from Parsa constituency. He was once a confidante of RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav and later became his relative through a matrimonial alliance between Tej Pratap and Rai’s daughter Aishwarya. He joined Janata Dal (United) this year and has been actively campaigning for Nitish Kumar and taken potshots at Lalu Yadav and Tejashwi Yadav. Rai also contested the Lok Sabha election from Saran in 2019 but lost to BJP’s Rajiv Pratap Rudy.
Election Commission has declared Sanjay Saraogi of BJP to have won the Darbhanga seat by over 10,000 votes, reports PTI.
After Bihar CM candidate Pushpam Priya alleged EVM tampering in Bihar, Sudeep Jain, Deputy Election Commissioner said, “It has been clarified time and again that EVMs are robust and tamper-proof. Supreme Court upheld the integrity of EVMs more than once. EC had also offered EVM challenge in 2017. Integrity of EVMs is without any doubt and merits no further clarification.”
Till 2 pm, Pushpam Priya has managed to secure only 750 votes while the BJP candidate is leading in the seat. In a tweet, Pushpam Priya has now said EVMs are being hacked.
HAM president and former Bihar chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi is leading ahead of Uday Narain Choudhary of RJD by over 2,400 votes in Imamganj seat, reports PTI. Incumbent Manjhi had won the 2015 Assembly election by 29,408 votes.
The Election Commission of India is addressing the media. More than 1 crore votes have been counted and there is still significant ground to be covered in Bihar, as per the poll body.
“We have many seats where we have to count 50 rounds. On average, each seat could have a counting of approximately 30-35 rounds. Over 4 crore and 10 lakh votes were cast and we have counted 95 lakh. Our counting will continue late into the evening,” Bihar Chief Electoral Officer HR Srinivas has told ANI.
According to the latest Election Commission trends for all 243 seats, the National Democratic Alliance is now leading on 126 seats. This includes BJP in 72 seats, the JD(U) in 47, and the Vikassheel Insaan Party in 7 seats. Meanwhile, the Opposition Grand Alliance is ahead in 102 seats.
80 seats difference of less than 2000. Difference of less than 1000 in 52 seats. Difference of less than 500 in 23 seats. Difference of less than 200 on 8 seats.
Election Commission says 21.4 % counting has been done so far after 5 hours of vote-counting. Total votes cast this election season in Bihar was at 4 crore and out of that 87,88,780 votes have been counted so far.
According to official Election Commission trends for all 243 seats, NDA is leading on 127 seats with BJP leading in 73 seats, JDU leading in 47 seats, Vikassheel Insaan Party leading in 7 seats. The Mahagathbandhan is leading in 100 seats with RJD leading in 61 seats, Congress leading in 20 seats and the Left leading in 19 seats. BSP is leading on one seat, AIMIM on three, LJP on five and independents on seven seats.
There are 23 seats currently where the margin is less than 500 votes and 27 seats with a lead of only 500-1,000 votes, indicating a tight contest in the Bihar polls, according to NDTV.
As of 11 am, official Election Commission trends for 223 of 243 seats show NDA is leading on 117 seats with BJP leading in 63 seats, JDU leading in 48 seats, Vikassheel Insaan Party leading in 5 seats and HAM in 1 seat. Mahagathbandhan is now leading on 95 seats with RJD leading in 61 seats, Congress in 19 seats, Left in 15 seats. BSP and AIMIM have a lead on one seat each, LJP on four seats and independents on five.
According to India Today, RJD candidate Surendra Yadav is leading in the Belaganj assembly seat in Gaya by 307 votes. BJP candidate Hari Manjhi is leading in the Bodh Gaya assembly seat in Gaya by 1,679 votes. RJD candidate Uday Narayan Choudhary is leading in Imamganj assembly seat in Gaya by 2,007 votes. RJD candidate Samata Devi is leading in Barachatti assembly seat in Gaya by 80 votes.
RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav is leading in Bihar’s Raghopur constituency by over 400 votes against BJP leader Satish Kumar as per Scroll.in. Raghopur is a Yadav-dominated constituency in the Vaishali district, which Lalu Prasad had won in 1995, 2000, and his wife Rabri Devi in 2005.
Former CM Jitan Ram Manjhi trailing in Imamganj. RJD's Uday Narain Choudhary is leading. Candidates contesting in the 2020 Bihar Assembly elections from Imamganj are: Rita Devi (BSP), Renuka Devi (LJP), Samata Devi (RJD), Jyoti Devi (HAMS), Parmeshwar Paswan (BMP), Prashuram Manjhi (AKP), Bal Kunwar Manjhi (JAPL), Ram Bhajan Manav (SSD), Rekha Devi (JMBP), Shiv Shankar Kumar (PPID), Arjun Bhuiyan (IND), Puniya Devi (RSJP), Shivcharan Manjhi (IND).
EC trends for 104 of 243 seats
According to The Indian Express, Avinash Vidyarthi Kumar of the RJD is leading in Munger, where the clashes between the police and devotees took place over Durga idol immersion.
Araria - Congress
Narpatganj - BJP
Jokihat - BJP
Sikti - RJD
Raniganj - JDU
Forbesganj - Congress
Gaya Town - BJP
Nalanda - JDU
The BJP appeared to race ahead of partner JD(U)'s Nitish Kumar. The leads indicated that Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal-United was dragging down the NDA's numbers. Election trends currently. The BJP is leading in 11 seats and alliance partner JD(U) is ahead in six seats.
According to The Indian Express,
As per the lastest trend, four NDA ministers are trailing.
RJD's Tejashwi Yadav supporters have reached outside his residence.
All of the major parties have opened their tally. Yet, the numbers are neck and neck. As per Indian Express, the NDA alliance is ahead in 21 seats, while the Mahagathbandhan is ahead in 20 seats.