Bihar Election Results: How Small Parties Like AIMIM, BSP & Others Have Dented Vote Bank Of The Larger Ones

AIMIM, the BSP and Independent candidates set for a win will have extra value amid the extremely tight situation in Bihar.

(Image: PTI)

Patna: As the counting of votes for the 243 Bihar Legislative Assembly is still underway with a neck-and-neck battle between Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) as both are fighting hard to get the single largest party status in the state. The Congress has accused Asaduddin Owaisi's AIMIM of undermining its votes base in Bihar's crucial Seemanchal region to help the BJP, which is set to emerge as the single-largest party in the state. Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, a senior Congress leader, described  Owaisi as a "vote-cutter" and asked secular parties to be "alert" about him. "BJP's tact of using (Asaduddin) Owaisi Sahab's party in the Bihar elections has succeeded to an extent. All secular parties should be alert about vote-cutter Owaisi sahab," he was quoted. Owaisi's party AIMIM has fielded a total of 20 candidates in the elections, and as per the latest trends and results, the party has won a seat and is leading on another 4 seats. AIMIM, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Independent candidates set for a win will have extra value amid the extremely tight situation in Bihar as the NDA and the Mahagathbandhan are neck to neck in getting to a simple majority. In this case, the role of Asaduddin Owaisi's AIMIM which has won one seat and is leading on four more, the Bahujan Samaj Party which is leading on one seat and two Independent candidates may play a crucial role. Meanwhile, RJD is turning out to be single-largest party and its leaders say that they will legally stake a claim with the Governor to form a government in Bihar. The AIMIM may hold the key simply because of its anti-saffron ideology, even though Owaisi was targeted by by Tejashwi Yadav for weakening his party in its minority-dominated stronghold of Seemanchal. While the counting of votes that started in the morning showed trends favoring a lead of 5 seats, but now as per trends, Chirag Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) may have to end his election bid empty-handed. It is also worth mentioning while making pre-poll alliance, the NDA only allowed the parties that could eat into their vote bank, like Vikassheel Insaan Party, that has won two seats, and the Hindustani Awam Morcha led by former CM of the state Jitan Ram Manjhi who defected from the JDU bagged a single seat. As of now, the latest trends show that the NDA is leading with 122 seats, while the Grand Alliance is trailing at 114.