NEW DELHI: Bihar moves into the verdict stage on Friday as counting began at 8 am, alongside bypoll results for eight assembly seats across six states as well as union territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
The NDA has surged ahead in Bihar, with the combined appeal of chief minister Nitish Kumar and Prime Minister Narendra Modi powering the coalition toward what could be its strongest mandate since 2010, when it won 206 seats.
Early Election Commission trends show the NDA leading in 196 seats — BJP 88, JDU 79, LJP 21, HAM 4 and RLM 4.Follow Bihar Election Results 2025 Live UpdatesThe opposition bloc trails far behind, with RJD leading in 31 seats, Congress in 4, CPI(ML) in 5, CPI-M in 1, and VIP in none. The BSP holds a lead in one seat, while AIMIM is ahead in five.
For Nitish Kumar, who has been at the helm for nearly 20 years, this election has been seen as a test of stamina and public faith. Once hailed as ‘Sushashan Babu’ for steering Bihar away from the era dubbed ‘jungle raj,’ he has in recent years faced questions over shifting alliances and signs of voter fatigue — trends that early results today appear to counter.Also read |Where is Jan Suraaj? Prashant Kishor’s party’s ambitious debut fails to show up in trendsBihar voted in two phases on November 6 and 11. Counting for all 243 assembly seats will be completed on Friday, with results expected by evening.
This is the first assembly election in two decades conducted after a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.Also read | ‘Change will come’: Tejashwi Yadav confident as Bihar vote counting begins
