Voting in the second and final phase of the Bihar assembly elections has ended. Now it’s time to find out what the exit polls have predicted for the state.
Health Warning: Exit polls are not always accurate.
In this phase, 3,7 crore voters are deciding the electoral fate of 1,302 candidates, including several ministers in the Nitish Kumar government. Bihar recorded the highest-ever voter turnout of over 67.14 per cent (provisional) in the second phase till 5 pm. Even phase 1 on November 6 saw a high turnout of over 65 per cent. The counting of votes will take place on November 14.
In the last elections, the tally of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) had crashed to 43, a drop of more than 25 seats compared with the previous polls, which was primarily because of the revolt by Chirag Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party. This time, however, Paswan, whose party is now known as Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), is contesting as a junior NDA constituent.
Nitish Kumar’s other political ally, the BJP, which performed better than his party in 2020, is contesting on the same number of seats (101) as the JD(U). The Bihar assembly has 243 seats.