Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Nov 10: Even nearly 14 hours after the counting of votes started at 8 A.M. on Tuesday, Bihar was still to throw up a clear winner with a see-saw battle going on between the BJP-JD(U)-led NDA and the RJD-led “Mahagathbandhan” (MGB) in the race to touch the magic figure of 122 seats for a majority in the 243-member state Assembly.
As per the official records of the Election Commission of India, by 10 P.M. the results were declared for only 145 seats with the outcome in 98 seats still pending. Of the 145, the NDA had secured 75 seats and the MGB 65 while “others” including independents had taken five seats. Of the remaining 98 seats, both the NDA and the MGB were leading in 48 seats each and others in two.
The ECI sources said till about 3.40 crore votes counted of the total 4.10 votes polled, the NDA had won or were leading in 123 seats, just the majority mark with MGB lurking closely behind with 113 seats won or leading making the presence of the “others” very crucial in case the NDA slipped down below 122.
The ECI had said earlier that due to the increase in the number of EVM machines and the number of polling booths to maintain the necessary social distance during polling in the Corona pandemic situation, the counting of votes would take a much longer time and the final results could be expected well beyond midnight on Tuesday. The situation was made more complicated and the announcement of the final results could be further delayed because of the re-counting demanded by either side in about a dozen constituencies where the poll outcome was less than 500 or even 100 votes.
The NDA’s performance in Bihar was noteworthy considering that almost all the exit polls had virtually written it off and had predicted a clear victory for the MGB. When the counting began on Tuesday morning, the initial indications looked like the exit polls predictions would come correct but as the pace of counting increased, the scenario kept changing with pendulum swinging between the two rivals frequently.
The counting on Tuesday projected a cliffhanger with NDA ally and Mahagathbandhan engaged in a neck-and-neck fight for Bihar. The counting which began at 8am went on throughout the day ensuring adherence to Covid-19 protocols. This was the first election which was held amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
Early trends kept Tejashwi Yadav-led MGB ahead, but as counting proceeded, the MGB lost a few of its earlier gains and the NDA comfortably reached the majority mark. In the evening, the MGB narrowed the gap.
Among keenly watched constituencies and big-ticket contestants, RJD’s Tej Pratap Yadav won Hasanpur Assembly constituency from where he contested for the first time. HAM’s Jitan Ram Manjhi, the former chief minister and NDA ally, won from Imamganj.
A few Congress leaders blamed the NDA for EVM hacking while the RJD accused the Nitish Kumar government of influencing district magistrates to not let MGB’s count go beyond 110.