Bihar Elections 2020: The National Democratic Alliance zoomed past the majority mark in Bihar Assembly elections after a daylong see-saw battle with Grand Alliance, the counting for which started on Tuesday and continued till the wee hours of Wednesday. The Nitish Kumar government gets fourth successive term in the state as the alliance beat the 15 years of anti-incumbency.


Also Read | Bihar Election Results: RJD Alleges Poll Fraud, Says 119 Winning Candidates Denied Certificates

The results were announced after 4 am by the Election Commission and the ruling coalition won 125 seats in the 243-member state assembly against 110 clinched by the opposition Grand Alliance.

Even though the NDA stormed back to power with a slender majority,  the performance of the JDU saw a fall as  number of JD(U) lawmakers that came down to 43 from 71 in 2015. Kumar was then a partner in the Grand Alliance which included Lalu Prasad's RJD and the Congress.

Its defeat notwithstanding, the RJD, whose campaign Tejashwi Yadav, the younger son and heir to party supremo Lalu Prasad helmed, emerged as the single largest party with 75 seats. The BJP, which led the table for several hours during the counting that dragged on for over 16 hours, finished second with a tally of 74 seats. Apart from BJP's 74 seats and JD(U)'s 43, the ruling alliance partners HAM and Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) won four seats each.

Watch: 


Despite the slump in numbers, Kumar, who was declared the NDA's chief ministerial candidate by the BJP brass, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party chief J P Nadda, is set to take over the reins of the government.

The drastic fall in the number of JD(U) MLAs, however, will likely make the BJP, which hitherto played a second fiddle to Kumar, more assertive, and it may insist on a larger share in the ministerial pie and greater say in governance.

Apart from Kumar's creditable performance as an administrator, the multiple claimants to Muslim votes, including the Grand Democratic Secular Front (GDSF) comprising Asaduddin Owaisi's AIMIM, BSP and Upendra Kushwaha's RLSP worked in NDA's favour and scuppered the Mahagathbandhan's chances. Muslim and Yadav voters have for long formed the bedrock of the RJD's support base.