Early Bihar trends show BJP leading

According to early trends on Tuesday as counting entered more than an hour across Bihar for the 243-seat Assembly seats, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is leading on eight out of 20 seats counted so far, with the opposition trailing.

The results are mostly from counting of the postal ballots and EVMs simultaneously at over 55 centres of the 1,06,515 polling stations across the state.

As per the trend, the BJP is leading on eight seats followed by Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) (5), Janata Dal-United (3), Congress (2) and one each by Bahujan Samaj Party and Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP).

Counting of votes got underway at 8 a.m. for the three-phase Bihar Assembly elections that may herald a new era in state politics, with exit polls predicting a victory for the RJD-led Grand Alliance.

The majic number for the winner is 122 in the 243-seat Bihar Assembly. The Janata Dal United-led National Democratic Alliance and the Rashtriya Janata Dal-led United Progressive alliance are the main contenders.

As the elections ended last week, exit polls unanimously predicted a clear edge for the Grand Alliance, also known as Mahagatbandhan, led by RJD's Tejashwi Yadav..