NDTV's poll of exit polls, based on six different polls, shows a photofinish between the Nitish Kumar led 'Grand Alliance' and the BJP in the crucial Bihar assembly election, polling for which ended today. Votes will be counted on Sunday.
Here are the latest developments:
The poll of exit polls shows the Grand Alliance getting 118 seats and the BJP and its allies, 117 seats, in the 243-member Bihar assembly. A party needs 122 seats for a majority to form government.
The fifth and final phase today saw 60 per cent voter turnout, the highest in all phases. At 58.6 per cent, this is also the best voter turnout in Bihar in years. 53 per cent people had voted in 2010.
In a highlight, women turned up in larger numbers than men to vote in all phases. Both camps have claimed this will benefit them.
Lalu Prasad, Nitish Kumar's chief ally, claimed that their alliance will sweep Bihar with 190 seats. He said even if his RJD gets more seats, Nitish Kumar will be Chief Minister.
"Our leader is Narendra Modi and he will campaign for us everywhere. We will win some and lose some. We are winning in Bihar," said the BJP's Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi.
The BJP, which hopes to unseat the Nitish Kumar government, assesses that a higher voter turnout means a vote for change.
The Nitish Kumar camp contends that a higher voter turnout means that people want to ensure the BJP is kept away. It also claims that Bihar's women firmly back Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
The BJP projected no one as chief minister and its campaign was fronted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi who addressed over 30 rallies in the state. The party has tied up with three regional parties.
Winning Bihar is crucial for the BJP, which needs to boost its numbers in the Rajya Sabha or Upper House of Parliament, the members of which are elected by legislators in states. The Narendra Modi government is in a minority in the Rajya Sabha and has found it tough to push through key reforms.
For the BJP, which had won a series of state elections after it came to power at the Centre last year, was crushed by the Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi this year, the last assembly election it contested. It would like a win in Bihar also to set the tone for important state elections in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu next year and then the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections in 2017.
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