Counting of votes for the Bihar assembly elections will take longer than usual and continue till late in the night because of 63% increase in the number of EVMs, the Election Commission said on Tuesday asserting that the pace of counting of votes is not slow. According to the trends available so far, the NDA is headed for a majority in Bihar, while the RJD-led Mahagathbandhan is trailing. As we fight disinformation and misinformation, and keep apace with the happenings, we need to commit greater resources to news gathering operations. NDA is outperforming Mahagathbandhan because of alliance dynamics and better strike rate so far. The saffron party was leading in 50 seats while RJD is leading in 52 seats, overtaking BJP as single largest party. Dalit leader Udit Raj is the Congress party’s national spokesperson. Luv Sinha, who is contesting from Bankipur seat on Congress ticket is trailing behind BJP's Nitin Nabin, who has held the seat since 2005. Late in the evening, Rashtriya Janata Dal's Manoj Jha met the Election Commission officials, claiming that he did not "trust the administration". By the evening, the number of seats narrowed down to 20, where the margin of lead was less than 600 votes. “Apne bhi shamil the aur begane bhi (Our own also harmed us along with the outsiders),” he said, without taking any names. In Kasba, Shakeel Ahmad Khan of Congress is fighting a neck and neck race with Suraj Prakash Roy of JD(U). With polling trends showing Janata Dal (United) underperforming in a big way, Lok Janshakti Party president Chirag Paswan appeared to be succeeding in damaging Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar-led party by playing a major role in its poor show in many seats. - PTI. Roy's daughter Aishwarya had alleged that her husband was a drug addict and often dressed up like Radha, Krishna and Shiva while claiming to be their avatar. He was addressing the press in a mid-day briefing. “A Mahagathbandhan government will be formed for sure. Mishri Lal Yadav of VIP is leading by a slender margin of 42 votes. In another tweet, he took a swipe at the BJP, saying it has been able to sideline Nitish Kumar with its performance in Bihar. BJP, RJD, and JD(U) have won two seats each so far, Vikassheel Insaan Party and Congress wins one seat. Mr. Manjhi had, in 2015, quit the JD(U)after being forced to step down as the CM to make way for return of Nitish Kumar. (Data as of 7.45 pm). In 2015, when RJD and JD(U) fought the elections together, Mr. Lalit Kumar Yadav's victory margin was 34,491. As the three-phase Bihar Assembly elections drew to a close on Saturday, exit polls unanimously predicted a clear edge for Rashtriya Janata Dalthe Mahagatbandhan, led by the Rashtriya Janata Dal’s Tejashvi Yadav. The lead was also narrowed to the point where the two sides were just three seats apart. Union Home Minister Amit Shah Tuesday dialled Chief Minister Nitish Kumar as the two leaders talked about the Bihar poll results and trends, sources close to the JD(U) president said. At the end of 14 rounds, BJP's Sunil Kumar is leading with 37,680 votes, while his namesake from RJD is trailing by 12,673 votes. In Bihar, 2.7 crore votes out of 4.11 crore votes polled have been counted, DEC Chandra Bhushan Kumar said. Locals watch the election contest on a screen during counting day of Bihar Assembly polls in Patna. The Mahagathbandhan Chief Ministerial candidate and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav is currently leading with a margin of 27, 839 votes from Raghopur constituency. Mr. Yadav had contested as a BJP candidate from this seat in the 2015 elections where he was defeated by the then RJD candidate Abdul Bari Siddiqui. Anant Kumar Singh of RJD is leading in Mokama. Ritlal Yadav is the main accused in the murder of former BJP leader Satyanarayan Sinha in 2003. The Hyderabad-headquartered party forayed into Bihar this time with a BSP-led Grand Democratic Secular Front (GDSP). Bihar minister and BJP leader Brij Kishor Bind is leading over BSP rival Md Hamza Khan by 321 votes in Chainpur seat. The constituency had in 2015 elected an RJD candidate to the Assembly. Bihar Chief Electoral Officer H.R. Barring the CPI-ML, which had three seats in the outgoing assembly, none of the Left parties had a presence in the House. JD(U)'s Chandrika Roy leads over RJD's Chhote Lal Ray by 49 votes in Parsa seat in early trends. His winning margin was a mere 2,141 votes. On allegations that his party was dividing anti-BJP votes, Mr. Owaisi said he is running a political party and has a right to contest on its own. “The Returning Officer had declared RJD candidate Shakti Singh from Hilsa Assembly constituency as winner by 547 votes. As the early trends suggest, the Janata Dal (United) is emerging as the biggest loser in the Bihar 2020 Assembly elections and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s own image appears greatly diminished. Mr. Paswan claimed during the campaign that he is Hanuman of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, but he has ended up playing the role of Vibhishan hurting the NDA instead. Overall, the NDA was ahead with 124 leads, while the Mahagathbandhan was leading in 111 seats at the time of writing in a tantalisingly close election. In the morning, a tough contest was on in nearly 70 seats, where the margin of lead was less than 1,000 votes. He was pitted against his brother Sarfaraz Alam, who was contesting on RJD's ticket. 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 Owaisi, but ruled out supporting the BJP, asserting that his party’s fight has always been against the saffron party. In Paroo, Independent candidate Shankar Prasad is leading over sitting MLA Ashok Kumar Singh by 34 votes. He was elected for the first time in February 2005, and again in 2010 when he defeated RJD leader by a margin of about 26,000 votes. Of this, BJP is leading in five, JD(U) in two while Congress and RJD are leading in one seat each. We expect justice from Election Commission," said Congress leader Akhilesh Singh. Vikassheel Insaan Party and Congress won one seat each. Lalu Prasad Yadav and his wife Rabri Devi too had won from this constituency in 1995, 2000 and in 2005 respectively. It is also contesting for seats in Brahmpur, Sugauli, Kewati, Balrampur and Baniapur. In the RJD camp, which was on cloud nine till Monday with almost all exit polls indicating the party-helmed coalition coming to power in the state and its leader Tejashwi Yadav becoming chief minister, the initial euphoria appears to be dipping. In 2015, the party contested alone and managed to win three seats. However, the biggest gainer was the CPI-ML, which clinched 12 seats, followed by the CPI and CPI-M (two each). Ramesh Rishidev, Feroz Ahmad, Santosh Kumar Nirala, Shailesh Kumar and Jai Kumar Singh were all found trailing in their respective constituencies. Mr. Sarfaraz the sitting MLA, recently switched from JD(U) to RJD. - Srinivasan Ramani. When 7% of votes were counted, it was 37.5% for NDA and 32.9% for Mahagathbandhan. The RJD has alleged in a series of tweets that returning officers have withheld results in 119 seats "where the MGB candidates have won after the completion of counting”. Until 2015, BJP's Sunil Kumar, the incumbent MLA was with the JD(U). We promise to deliver quality journalism that stays away from vested interest and political propaganda. RJD's Lalit Kumar Yadav has defeated JD(U)'s Faraz Fatmi to retain Darbhanga Rural. A day before the declaration of the Assembly election results, it was all quiet at the offices of the political parties on Beerchand Patel Marg in Patna. Vinay Verma of Congress has secured 100 votes more thatn Rashmi Varma of BJP ar Narkatiaganj. However, the BJP along with partner JD(U) has so far pocketed 35.43% votes against 32.13% polled by the RJD-Congress combined. The constituency also has some interesting candidates, such as an alumnus of Oxford University, a former student of the London School of Economics, and former BJP leader Sushma Sahu. On the other hand, 5 of the 12 JDU candidates fielded by the Nitish Kumar cabinet have failed to capitalise on their positions. No counting was stopped, Mr. Bhushan Kumar said. Despite the slump in numbers, Mr. Kumar, who was declared the NDA’s Chief Ministerial candidate by the BJP brass, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party chief J P Nadda, is set to take over the reins of the government. HAM chief & former Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjh is leading by over 2,400 votes in Imamganj seat. It is too early to declare the winner, here is why. He was told to wait for issuing the victory certificate. - PTI. To enable wide dissemination of news that is in public interest, we have increased the number of articles that can be read free, and extended free trial periods.