ABP-C Voter Exit Poll: Anti-Incumbency Or Are People In Bihar Actually Done With Nitish?

As per the exit polls prediction, the upcoming results may be a tough ride for Chief Minister of the State Nitish Kumar. The consecutive three-time CM of the state recently virtually announced his retirement, terming the current state assembly elections his last.

Katihar: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar addresses a gathering during an election meeting, for Bihar Assembly elections, in Katihar, Thursday, Nov. 5, 2020. (PIC/PTI)

New Delhi: As per the ABP News-C Voter Exit Poll survey, Bihar is likely witness a hung house in the 2020 Assembly elections. According to the post-poll tracker, National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is predicted to win seats in the range between 104-128 in the 243-member assembly while the Grand Alliance led by RJD is tipped to win 108-131 seats. As per the opinion poll prediction, the upcoming results may be a tough ride for Bihar Chief Minister and Janata Dal United (JDU) chief  Nitish Kumar. The consecutive three-time CM of the state recently announced his retirement, terming the current state assembly elections his last. According to ABP-C Voter Survey, Janta Dal-United-led by Nitish is bagging 38-46 seats, while the party retains 67 seats currently. Meanwhile his ally in state Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) may get around 66-74 seats bagging a massive rise as currently, the party has 53 seats in the current assembly. In 2015, Nitish Kumar broke up from the NDA and contested with former rival Lalu Prasad Yadav, the alliance emerged winner but only worked for 15 months, after Nitish went back with the NDA after accusing sons of Lalu of corruption. With the exit polls, it can be predicted that the three-time CM is facing anti-incumbency and people may want to see a younger Tejashwi in charge of the state. While Tejashwi Yadav led Rashtriya Janata Dal (RDD), can again be seen as the single largest party in the state as the party may get 81-89 seats, currently, RJD has 73 seats in the assembly. As the election witnessed a lot of heated statements, Kumar was also pointed for him not contesting the assembly elections as he came from the legislative council and even being called an opportunist may also add up to the decrease in the number of seats.  It is also worth mentioning, that a similar situation was seen in Madhya Pradesh in 2018 when the three-time CM Shivraj Singh Chauhan lost the mandate. Lack of a young face may also be one of the major causes of the decrease in the seats for JDU. While the state is witnessing Tejashwi Yadav and Chirag Paswan as young leaders adding the anti-incumbency to it may also make up for the predictions of the exit polls. Even thoguh the JD-U said their party chief would continue to work as long as the people of Bihar want, and that his statement did not mean he was retiring, Kumar actually hinted that this election was his last political innings and he has made up his mind to hang up his boots. In Bihar, elections are being held for 243 assembly seats in three phases. Polling for the first phase was held on 71 seats on October 28 and 94 seats on November 3. Counting of votes will be held on November 10.