Patna, Nov 14 (IANS) The initial trends of the Bihar Assembly election counting on Friday indicate a major setback for the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), which appears to be heading toward its biggest electoral defeat.

In the first four hours of counting — till 12 noon — trends from all 243 seats emerged, showing the NDA marching toward a sweeping victory.

According to early trends till 1:45 p.m. as per Election Commission of India (ECI), the BJP is leading on 91 seats, JD-U on 81, LJP-RV on 21, HAM on five, and Rashtriya Lok Morcha on four seats.

On the other side, the RJD is ahead in only 35 seats, a sharp decline from the 75 seats it won in the 2020 Assembly elections when it emerged as the single largest party.

The Congress is leading on six seats, CPI-ML on six seats, and CPI, CPI-M, and VIP are leading on one seat each.

The results indicate a significant rebuff to the Lalu Prasad Yadav–led RJD, which campaigned on a series of ambitious promises, including government jobs for every household, Rs 2,500 monthly assistance to women under the Mai Bahin Maan Yojana, and enhanced honourariums of Rs 30,000 for Jeevika Didis.

The early numbers suggest that voters may have placed greater confidence in Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, whose parties are showing strong leads across the state.

However, officials emphasise that counting is still in progress, and the ECI has not yet declared any final results or confirmed the victory of any candidate.

As counting continues for all 243 seats in the Bihar Assembly elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is performing even better than in the previous election.

Prominent BJP leaders, including Samrat Choudhary from Tarapur, Maithili Thakur from Alinagar, and Health Minister Mangal Pandey, have maintained steady leads since the early rounds of counting.

With the NDA alliance holding a significant advantage, the key question now is whether Nitish Kumar will return as the Chief Minister.

By evening, official results will start coming in, and the picture will become clear regarding who will form the next government in Bihar.

–IANS

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