Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance, or NDA, is set to return to power in Bihar, according to multiple exit polls.
The first phase of voting for the new legislative assembly in Bihar in eastern India took place on November 6, with the second phase concluding on Tuesday.
Official results are expected on Friday in the state long seen as India’s political hotbed.
Why do Bihar elections matter?
Bihar is part of a politically crucial heartland for Modi’s NDA, and the vote comes ahead of key state elections in Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Assam ahead of the national elections in 2029. Bihar sends 40 representatives to the lower house of Parliament, and a victory in the state could strengthen Modi’s alliance.
According to Election Commission data, the state recorded the highest turnout of 66.91%.
If the surveys are accurate, the NDA alliance is expected to achieve well above the majority mark of 122 seats in the 243-member state assembly. The opposition grand alliance led by Rashtriya Janata Dal and Congress Party is expected to win fewer seats.
Congress MP Tariq Anwar told news agency ANI that the surveys “cannot be considered accurate.”
He said, “They are just speculations. It gives a hint of what could happen. It would not be right to think that they are accurate.”
But BJP leader Syed Shahnawaz said exit polls showed, “people have voted for Prime Minister Modi, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and development.”
Edited by: Dmytro Lyubenko