Nitish Kumar will remain the Chief Miinister, the Bharatiya Janata Party said, a day after it put up a winning performance in the state Assembly polls leading the ruling National Democratic Alliance to obtain a majority even though Mr Kumar led Janata Dal-United posted a fall in total votes gained in a tightly fought race.
"Nitishji will remain Chief Minister as it was our commitment. There is no confusion on this," the BJP's Sushil Kumar Modi and Deputy Chief Minister said today.
After more than 14 hours of counting, many twists and turns and allegations of cheating, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) was announced as the winner of the Bihar Assembly election in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Amit Shah will reach the BJP office at six in the evening today to congratulate workers on the Bihar assembly election victory.
Boosted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's rallies, the NDA eased past the majority mark of 122 in the 243-member Assembly. The BJP won 74 seats to emerge as the senior member in its alliance with Nitish Kumar's JDU, which won just 43.
Boosted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's several rallies, the NDA hit the majority mark of 122 at 2.57 AM.
According to data on the Election Commission's website, the BJP won 72 seats to emerge as the senior member in its alliance with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's JDU, which managed just 42.
The opposition, led by the RJD's Tejashwi Yadav, put up a strong fight but eventually fell short. However, with 75 seats the RJD is the single-largest party. The Congress, viewed by many as the reason for the opposition's failure to go all the way, contested 70 seats but won only 19. Chirag Paswan's LJP, which was the source of much frustration for Nitish Kumar, won just one seat.