NDA Leading In Bihar. INDIA Bloc Far Behind, Picking Up Speed

The BJP-led NDA was leading in a majority of the 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar, according to trends available by the Election Commission around noon.

The Janata Dal (United), or JD(U), headed by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who returned to the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) barely five months ago, was ahead of rivals in 14 out of 16 seats it had contested.

The BJP, which had contested 17 seats, was leading in 11, while junior ally Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) was ahead in all the five that it contested, including Hajipur, where its chief Chirag Paswan had established a lead of about 24,000 votes.

The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), which had suffered decimation in the last general elections, was leading in five seats, out of 23 where it had fielded candidates.

RJD chief Lalu Yadav's eldest daughter Misa Bharti was leading by over 33,000 votes in Pataliputra, but her younger sister Rohini Acharya was trailing in Saran.

The CPI(ML) Liberation, which had contested only three seats, was leading in two of these, Arrah and Karakat.

In Arrah, Union Minister and two-term BJP MP RK Singh was trailing while in Karakat, Bhojpuri superstar Pawan Singh was a distant third.

The Congress was leading in the reserved Sasaram seat, but trailing the JD(U) in Kishanganj, the only Bihar constituency it won five years ago. Former Bihar chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, an NDA ally who heads Hindustani Awam Morcha, had established an almost unassailable lead of nearly 64,000 votes in Gaya.

The CPI, which contested only one seat, was neck and neck in Begusarai with Union Minister and BJP MP Giriraj Singh.

With inputs from PTI