NDA Leads in Early Trends of Bihar Assembly Elections; Mahagathbandhan Trails

The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) moved ahead in the early trends soon after the Election Commission of India (ECI) began counting votes for the 243-seat Bihar Assembly elections on Friday.By 10 am, the NDA had crossed the halfway mark of 122 seats and it currently stands at 128 seats, while the Mahagathbandhan was leading in more than 60 constituencies. After briefly falling behind the RJD in the early numbers, the BJP once again pulled ahead and was leading on nearly 61 seats by 10 am, according to initial trends.The NDA comprises the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Janata Dal (United), Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM), and Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM).The Mahagathbandhan includes the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), the Congress, Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP), and the Left parties -- CPI, CPI-ML and CPI(M).The 243-seat Bihar Assembly elections were held in two phases on November 6 and 11. This year’s polls saw a record voter turnout, with a total participation of 67.13 per cent — the highest since 1951. The turnout was also 9.62 percentage points higher than the 57.29 per cent recorded in the 2020 elections.In the first phase, voter turnout stood at 65.08 per cent, while the second phase saw 68.76 per cent of voters casting their ballots.Bihar Assembly elections 2025: What did exit polls say?Exit polls largely predict an NDA victory, suggesting the alliance would retain power with a comfortable majority. However, most surveys indicated a poor performance by Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraaj Party, which is expected to win only 0-5 seats.