Bihar on Tuesday recorded its highest-ever voter turnout of 69 per cent, provisionally, at the close of polling in the final phase of the high-stakes elections. As the polling stations closed, exit polls predicted a return of the Nitish Kumar-led NDA Government in Bihar. Results for the 243-seat Assembly polls will be declared on Friday. Winning alliances need 122 seat to reach the majority mark.
In both phases, the State registered a voter turnout of 66.90 per cent, provisionally, which is 9.6 percentage points more than the last Assembly polls, the chief election officer said. In the 2020 Assembly polls, the State recorded a voter turnout of 57.29 per cent.
Almost all exit polls predict a victory of the BJP-JDU combine over the RJD Congress alliance and a no-show by Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraaj. While the Matrize exit poll forecast the NDA getting between 147-167 seats, the INDIA bloc 70-90 and the Jan Suraaj between 0-2 seats, Dainik Bhaskar predicted 145-160 seats for the NDA and 73-91 for the INDIA bloc.
Two pollsters — Axis My India and Today’s Chanakya — will release their exit polls on Wednesday. While People’s Insight predicted 133-148 seats for the NDA, 87-102 for the INDIA bloc and 0-2 for Jan Suraaj, People’s Pulse gave 133-159 seats to the NDA, 75-101 to the INDIA bloc, and 0-5 to Prashant Kishore’s party.
Meanwhile, Chanakya Strategies gave the NDA 130-138 seats, 100-108 to the INDIA bloc, and zero to Jan Suraaj. Pollster P-Marq predicted the NDA to win 142-162 seats, the INDIA bloc 80-98 and Jan Suraaj 1-4. While the NDA is hoping to return to power in Bihar, the Opposition INDIA bloc is looking to form the Government with RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav as its chief ministerial face.
The second phase, in which eight ministers of the current Cabinet are in the fray, involves high stakes for the ruling NDA. Whereas the Opposition is pinning its hopes on the incumbency factor, as well as the high concentration of Muslims in many of the poll-bound districts. The second phase is of particular significance for the Congress, a spent force which is, nonetheless, the second-largest constituent of the INDIA bloc in Bihar. Of the 19 seats it had won in the 2020 assembly polls, 12 went to polls in the current phase. Its sitting MLAs include state president Rajesh Kumar Ram (Kutumba) and Shakeel Ahmed Khan (Kadwa).
