Bihar Election Results 2020 Live Updates: Counting Enters Final Phase; BJP, RJD In Race To Become Single-Largest Party

The counting of votes in Bihar is going on. The counting and results on individual seats will be declared live at the following websites of Election Commission of India – eciresults.nic.in, eci.gov.in, and results.eci.gov.in. The exercise will decide the electoral fate of over 3,700 candidates who are in the race to win the 243 seats of the state assembly.

The NDA has maintained an edge over the RJD-led Grand Alliance on Tuesday, winning four seats. The RJD, leading the opposition alliance, has won two seats so far according to the Election Commission website.

While the BJP had a edge through most of the day, the RJD caught up in the evening to usurp it as the single largest party. But with a large chunk of votes still left to be counted, the final results could still swing either way.

The NDA, however, despite the poor showing of the Nitish Kumar led-JD(U), continued to lead till late evening, although the gap has narrowed significantly over the day.

Meanwhile, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had a telephone conversation with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to discuss the results so far.

Most exit polls had given the RJD-Congress-Left alliance a clear edge over the JD(U) BJP coalition and had predicted that the ruling government was on its way out.

The voter turnout in the first, second and third phases of voting being held on October 28, November 3, and November 7 respectively, were recorded at 54 per cent, 55.7 per cent, and 56.02 per cent respectively.

Check live updates here

22.46pm BJP Bihar president Sanjay Jaiswal said on Tuesday evening that NDA is set to form govt in Bihar as it has won 121 seats and is leading in 4. He attributed NDA's lead to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership and its pro-poor policies.

9.55pm Three left parties have bagged seven seats and currently maintain the lead in 10 others in Bihar. CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury said would have grabbed more votes if they had more seats, Bihar elections prove critics of Left parties wrong.

"We were clear from the beginning that we have to defeat the BJP. Our strike rate in Bihar is 80 per cent and if we had been given more seats, we would have contributed more to the Gathbandhan tally. Our alliance with the RJD and Congress combined issues of social justice with that of economic justice. One cannot be achieved without the other," Yechury told PTI.

As of 9 pm on Tuesday, the CPI(ML) won six of the 19 seats they fought on and was leading in six, the CPI(M), which competed on four seats, won one and was leading in two others, and the CPI, which contested on six seats, won one and was leading in two.

9.35pm The RJD has cried foul claiming that the Grand Alliance has won in 119 seats. The RJD has alleged that EC officials have held back from issuing the candidates their winning certificates. "Nitish Kumar is phoning all the officers and getting them rigged. Such loot will not work in a democracy," the RJD said.  

9.15pm: Seats won so far--BJP-29, JDU-17, RJD-25, CPI (ML)-6, Congress-7, AIMIM- 2

EC trends for 242 seats as of 9.08pm

BJP leads in 43 seats, JD(U) in 26 and Vikassheel Insaan Party in 2 seats

RJD leading in 51 seats, Congress in 12 seats and Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) in 6 seats

9.05pm AIMIM wins two seats, leading in three others

8.55pm The BJP has scored high in terms of its winning percentage, while its ally JD(U) has performed relatively poorly. According to the latest trends on the Election Commission website, BJP has a strike rate of over 65 per cent, while JD(U)'s score is less than 40 per cent. In the opposition side, Congress has been the worst hit with a less than 30 per cent strike rate, while the Left front scored more than 60 per cent and the RJD scored over 50 per cent.

8.50pm The ruling NDA is leading in 125 seats and the opposition alliance in 111 seats. 

8.19pm  Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) president Jitan Ram Manjhi wins Imamganj seat by a margin of 16,034 votes: Election Commission

EC trends for 242 seats as of 8.13pm

BJP leads in 58 seats, JD(U) in 33 and Vikassheel Insaan Party in 2 seats

RJD leading in 57 seats, Congress in 16 seats and Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) in 8 seats

8.10pm 3.40 crore votes have been counted till 8 pm, the Election Commission of India stated.

8.07pm The AIMIM which is currently leading in four seats and has already emerged victorious in one seat, can play a key role in the formation of the next government in case there is a hung assembly. AIMIM national spokesperson Asim Waqar told PTI that a final decision on who AIMIM could back in case of a hung assembly will be taken by the party chief Asaduddin Owaisi, but ruled out supporting the BJP.

7.55pm The ruling NDA is leading in 121 seats and the opposition alliance in 114 seats. 

7.47pm Elated over the BJP's performance in the Bihar Assembly elections Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said the assembly trends so far have reiterated that "Modi hai to mumkin hai”, and expressed confidence that the party will do well in future polls as well.

7.40pm Congress’ Luv Sinha is trailing in Bankipur constituency, according to EC data.

7.38pm RJD’s Tej Pratap Yadav wins in Hasanpur constituency, according to EC data.

7.35pm AIMIM wins one seat, leading in 4 other seats, according to EC data.

7.31pm The RJD emerges as single largest party, leading in 69 seats. 

7.26pm The Shiv Sena said that JD-U leader Nitish Kumar should thank the Sena if he retains the post of Bihar chief minister despite his party winning less seats in the Assembly polls as compared to the BJP. "I heard BJP leaders saying in unison that only Nitish babu will be the chief minister. Nitish babu should thank Shiv Sena for that. Not keeping promises will not happen in Bihar because the Shiv Sena has shown in Maharashtra what can happen if BJP doesn't keep its word," Raut said.

7.22pm At least 2.7 crore EVM votes out of the 4 crore votes polled in the Bihar assembly elections have been counted till 5.30 pm, the Election Commission said.

7.13pm Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) leader Jitan Ram Manjhi is leading in Imamganj constituency with 29408 votes, according to EC data.

7.09pm The Grand Alliance’s CM candidate Tejashwi Prasad Yadav is leading in Raghopur constituency with 22733 votes, according to EC data.

EC trends for 242 seats as of 7.05 pm

BJP leads in 65 seats, JD(U) in 36 and Vikassheel Insaan Party in 3 seats

RJD leading in 67 seats, Congress in 18 seats and Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) on 12 seats

7.00pm The ruling NDA is leading in 124 seats and the opposition alliance in 111 seats. 

6.40pm The ruling NDA is leading in 121 seats and the opposition alliance in 114 seats. 

EC trends for 242 seats as of 6.22pm

BJP leads in 67 seats, JD(U) in 41 and Vikassheel Insaan Party in 3 seats

RJD leading in 71 seats, Congress in 19 seats and Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) on 12 seats

6.10pm The JD(U) has claimed that LJP carried out a conspiracy against Nitish Kumar. “Our own members also harmed us along with the outsiders (during this election),”  JD(U) spokesperson K C Tyagi told PTI without taking any names.

5.40pm The ruling NDA is leading in 122 seats and the opposition alliance in 113 seats. 

EC trends for 242 seats as of 05:35pm

BJP leads in 72 seats, JD(U) in 41 and Vikassheel Insaan Party in 4 seats

RJD leading in 67 seats, Congress in 19 seats and Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) on 12 seats

5.40pm The ruling NDA is leading in 126 seats and the opposition alliance in 108 seats. 

5.26pm  Home Minister Amit Shah called on Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to discuss the Bihar assembly election results, reports claim. 

5.15pm Hitting out at his fellow party-men, congress MP Karti Chidambaram, said that EVMs are robust, accurate and dependable. “There have been doubters of the EVM from across political parties, particularly when the results don't go in their favour. Till now no one has demonstrated scientifically their claims. Whatever be the outcome of any election, it's time to stop blaming the EVM," he said.

5.05pm Celebrations at BJP Headquarters

5.00pm The ruling NDA is leading in 125 seats and the opposition alliance in 108 seats. 

4.40pm The ruling NDA is leading in 128 seats and the opposition alliance in 104 seats. 

4.30pm Bihar BJP chief Sanjay Jaiswal said there is no dispute regarding who will lead the government if the alliance returns to power in the state. "I have been saying this for a long time that the NDA will form the government under the leadership of CM Nitish Kumar,” Jaiswal said even as the opposition claimed that the BJP had side-lined Nitish Kumar.  

3.50pm  Congress leader Udit Raj expressed doubts over the reliability of EVMs. "If the direction of satellites to Mars and Moon can be controlled from Earth, then why can't EVM be hacked?" Udit Raj tweeted.

3.48pm Indicating that there is some glitch in vote counting, Plurals Party's Pushpam Priya Chaudhary has claimed that she has not got any votes on the booths where people voted for her in her presence. "I have 0 votes in those booths where the workers went in front of me and cast their vote!" she tweeted.

3.46pm Even as the current trends give the NDA an advantage, the RJD has exuded confidence that the Grand Alliance will form the government in the state. Stating that Bihar has voted for change, the party tweeted all candidates and counting agents to remain in the hall until the process is completed

3.41pm Celebrations in NDA camp

EC trends for 242 seats as of 3.39 pm

BJP leads on 73 seats, JD(U) on 49 and Vikassheel Insaan Party on 5 seats

RJD leading on 64 seats, Congress on 20 seats and Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) on 12 seats

3.38pm The ruling NDA is leading in 129 seats and the opposition alliance in 102 seats. The BJP is leading in 73 seats, the JDU in 52, the LJP is leading in 1 seats. The RJD is ahead in 59 seats, the Congress in 21, and the Left parties in 13 seats. 

3.23 pm  BJP wins Darbhanga seat

BJP leader Sanjay Saraogi has won the Darbhanga seat defeating RJD's Amar Nath Gami by
over 10,000 votes, Returning Officer Thiyagrajan SM said Tuesday.
Saraogi (50) had won the seat in the 2015 assembly election too with a margin of 7,460 votes.

3.02pm The Left parties are leading in 18 of the 29 seats they contested in the Bihar Assembly election after the first few rounds of counting of votes, according to the Election Commission (EC) website.

3.00pm  Election Commission trends for all 243 seats at 3 pm: NDA leading on 128 seats - BJP 73, JDU 49, VIP 5, HAM 1

Mahagathbandhan ahead on 105 seats - RJD 67, Congress 20, Left 18

BSP leading on two, AIMIM on two, LJP on two & independents on four.

2.48pm Tejashwi ahead by over 8,500 votes in Raghopur

2.45pm "It has been clarified time and again that EVMs are robust and tamperproof. The integrity of EVMs is without any doubt and merits no further clarification," Chandrabhushan Kumar, Deputy Election Commissioner said this afternoon.

2.41pm In Ramgarh, RJD state president Jagadanand Singh's son Sudhakar Singh is trailing in second. BSP candidate Ambika Singh is currently in the lead, according to the EC site. In a 2010 bypoll, Jagadanand had campaigned against his son who was then contesting on a BJP ticket.

2.38 pm

1.51 pm Counting will take extra time due to 63 pc more EVMs than 2015 Bihar polls as Covid-19 protocol needed additional polling booths: EC.

1.48pm Addressing a presser, the Election Commission said that over 1 crore votes have been counted till now and that the EC hopes to finish the counting by tonight. "We have close to 63% increase in polling booth in view of Covid protocols. The number of tables inside counting halls has also been limited from 14 to 7.  Counting is happening at 55 locations. Approximate rounds in ACs will be 35."

1.41pm Who's trailing, who's leading

• HAM chief & former CM Jitan Ram Manjhi, who was earlier trailing RJD's Uday Narain Choudhary, now leads by over 2,400 votes in Imamganj seat.
• Bihar minister and BJP leader Nand Kishore Yadav, who was initially trailing Pravin Singh of Congress, now leads by over 3,600 votes in Patna Sahib seat.
• Asaduddin Owaisi's AIMIM was ahead in three seats, BSP in one and Independents (7).
• Bihar minister and BJP leader Brij Kishor Bind leads over BSP rival Md Hamza Khan by 321 votes in Chainpur seat.

1.24pm Speaking to NDTV, BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya said that the party will "stick to its promise" of Nitish Kumar returning as the Chief Minister if the BJP-JD[U] alliance was voted to power. He added: "Modi's image sailed us through (this election). By evening, we will decide on the issues of government formation and leadership."

12.52pm  Bihar minister and BJP leader Brij Kishor Bind leads over BSP rival Md Hamza Khan by 321 votes in Chainpur seat.

12.37pm Till 11.30 am, 11% votes have been counted. While the NDA has an edge, there's a wafer-thin margin in many constituencies. Some of them include Shelkhpura, Sugauli, Noka, Islampur — with a margin of less than 100 votes. In Ekma, Bajpatti, Belaganj, Arrah, Madhubani, Barauli, the margin is less than 200 votes.

12.14pm The Election Commission of India will hold a press conference scheduled at 1.30 pm today. ECI officers, including Deputy Election Commissioners Sudeep Jain, Chandrabhushan Kumar and Ashish Kundra, will brief the media virtually. 

12.09pm  As per the current leads, the BJP is the single-largest party in Bihar. While the saffron party has managed a vote share of 20 per cent, RJD has managed a vote share of 23.35 per cent. JD(U) has 15.46 per cent, while Congress has 9.05 per cent and LJP has 6.24 per cent. (Source: ECI)

12.08pm BJP's Parshuram Chaubey leads over Congress rival Sanjay Tiwari by 2,600 votes in Buxar seat.

12.06pm EC trends for 243 seats

BJP leads on 74 seats, JD(U) on 47 and Vikassheel Insaan Party on 7 seats

RJD leading on 60 seats, Congress on 21 seats and Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) on 14 seats

11.54am EC trends for 242 seats

BJP leads on 71 seats, JD(U) on 52 and Vikassheel Insaan Party on 7 seats

RJD leading on 59 seats, Congress on 20 seats and Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) on 14 seats

11.39am Tejashwi leads from Raghopur, Tej Pratap trails

11.31am Bihar Assembly Speaker and JD(U) leader Vijay Kumar Chaudhary trails RJD's Arbind Kumar Sahni by 230 votes in Sarairanjan

11.27am Congress leader Luv Sinha trails BJP's Nitin Nabin by 1,200 votes in Bankipur seat. Plurals Party chief Pushpam Priya Choudhary bags only 121 of 3,860 votes counted so far: PTI

10.51am EC trends for 223 seats as of 10.51 am

BJP leads on 63 seats, JD(U) on 48 and Vikassheel Insaan Party on 5 seats

RJD leading on 61 seats, Congress on 19 seats and Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) on 11 seats

10.48am HAM president and former Bihar chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi trailing behind Uday Narain Choudhary of RJD by 1,340 votes in Imamganj seat.

10.46am BJP IT cell head Amit Malviya tweeted: "The BJP is doing very well across. It is leading in Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and even Telangana by-polls... Not to mention Bihar where, along with its allies, it is doing much better than what the exit polls had predicted... It is not over till its over."

10.36am Nitish Kumar's party spokesperson concedes defeat, blames it on Covid

10.33am EC trends for 200 seats as of 10.33 am

BJP leads on 54 seats, JD(U) on 42 and Vikassheel Insaan Party on 5 seats

RJD leading on 57 seats, Congress on 17 seats and Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) on 10 seats

10.32am While initial trends suggest that the race will be to tight to call, Rashtriya Janata Dal [RJD]’s Tej Pratap Yadav exuded confidence that his brother, Tejashwi Yadav, will be Bihar’s chief minister. Taking to Twitter, he said: “Tejashwi bhawa: Bihar!”

10.25am EC trends 176 seats as 10.21 am

BJP leads on 48 seats, JD(U) on 34, Vikassheel Insaan Party on 5 seats

RJD leading on 54 seats, Congress on 14 seats and Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) on 10 seats

10.16am BJP's Alok Ranjan leads over RJD's Lovely Anand by 3,014 votes in Saharsa seat in early trends: PTI

10.11am EC trends for 104 of 243 seats

NDA leading on 52 seats - BJP 28, JDU 20, Vikassheel Insaan Party 4

Mahagathbandhan ahead on 46 seats - RJD 29, Congress 12, Left 5

BSP has a lead on two seats, Lok Jan Shakti Party on three while AIMIM is ahead on one (As of 10.00 am)

10.05am JD(U)'s Chandrika Roy leads over RJD's Chhote Lal Ray by 49 votes in Parsa seat in early trends: PTI

9.24am Whos' leading from where

• In Runnisaidpur, JD(U) leader Pankaj Kumar Mishra is leading over RJD's Mangita Devi
• In Ramgarh, BSP's Ambika Singh has a lead over BJP's Ashok Kumar Singh
• In Raghunathpur, RJD's Harishankar Yadav is ahead of LJP's Manoj Kumar Singh
• In Jhajha, JD(U)'s Damodar Rawat has a lead over RJDs Rajendra Prasad
• In Hajipur, BJP's Awadesh Singh has a slight margin In Garkha, BJP's Ghyanchand Manjhi is slightly ahead
• In Darbangha rural, RJD has a lead, while in Darbangha BJP is ahead In Darundha and Darauli, BJP is at an advantage
• In Benipur JD(U) has a lead, while Belsand is favouring RJD In Begusarai, INC candidate Amita Bhushan has a lead

9.22am Results May Be Delayed Due To Additional Poll Stations

9.19am BJP leading on 8 seats, JD(U) and RJD ahead on 3 seats each, Congress on 1

9.12am HAM founder Jitan Ram Manjhi is leading from Imamganj

9.6am As early trends suggest a lead for MGB, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav's supporters have reached outside his house

8.56am Prohibitory orders are in place outside the counting centres to prevent people from gathering in large numbers, officials said: PTI

8.36am The counting of votes for Bihar Assembly elections is underway at the counting centre established at Anugrah Narayan College in Patna: ANI

8.10am EC makes elaborate arrangements for counting

Election Commission has made elaborate arrangements for counting of votes for the Bihar assembly polls as the state awaits the results of a closely-fought election. The poll panel said it has set up a total of 55 counting centres, housing 414 halls, spread across all the 38 districts. The maximum three counting centres each have been set up in four districts of East Champaran (which has 12 constituencies), Gaya (10), Siwan (8 constituencies) and Begusarai (7). Rest other districts either have one or two counting centres each.

8.00am Counting of votes begins for 243-member Bihar Assembly

The counting of votes in Bihar has begun. The counting of votes and results on individual seats will be declared live at the following websites of Election Commission of India – eciresults.nic.in, eci.gov.in, and results.eci.gov.in.

7.57am Campaigning ends, Nitish Kumar signs off: My last election

 6.00am Despite Covid-19, Bihar voter turnout higher than 2015

Bihar recorded 57.05 percent turnout in the Assembly elections this year, marginally higher than that of 2015 despite the COVID-19 pandemic, as per official data.

Speaking to NDTV, BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya said that the party will "stick to its promise" of Nitish Kumar returning as the Chief Minister if the BJP-JD[U] alliance was voted to power. He added: "Modi's image sailed us through (this election). By evening, we will decide on the issues of government formation and leadership."