Counting of votes for Bihar’s 243-member Assembly begins at 8 a.m. on Friday, November 14, with postal ballots to be taken up first, followed by Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) tallies at 8:30 a.m., according to the Election Commission of India.
The majority mark stands at 122 seats.
The state recorded a historic turnout of 67.13% across the two-phase polling held on November 6 and 11, the highest since 1951.
This election is being closely watched as the Mahagathbandhan attempts to end JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar’s two-decade hold over the chief ministership. Backed by the Congress, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav is seeking to overturn the party’s long electoral drought. The JD(U)-BJP-led NDA, meanwhile, hopes to retain power.
Most exit polls have projected a comfortable edge for the NDA, placing its tally between 121 and 209 seats, figures that largely cross the majority threshold.
Rejecting the exit poll forecasts, Tejashwi Yadav has insisted that the Mahagathbandhan will form the next government with a “thumping majority,” citing internal inputs from his party’s ground-level workers.
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