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Gayaji, Nov 14 (IANS) Union Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi and Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) reacted to the early trends of Bihar assembly election results, saying it was clear from the beginning that the NDA would form the government.
Speaking to IANS, Jitan Ram Manjhi said, “It was already decided that the NDA will form the government. I had earlier said that we will win around 160 seats and the NDA will come to power. Nitish Kumar will become our Chief Minister. I have said this before, and I am saying it again. The early trends are exactly what we expected.”
He also responded to RJD MLC Sunil Singh’s statement in which he had claimed that “if there is fraud in the elections, Bihar will be turned into another Nepal or Bangladesh.”
He said, “It is their habit to spread fear and intimidate. They were in power earlier, so they think that people involved in the counting will get scared. But this is Bihar – the land of Ashoka and the land of Buddha. Such things will not go on here. Legal proceedings have already been taken, and an FIR has been filed. In the future also, if anything happens, legal action will be taken. In Bihar, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s government will be formed. I want to congratulate the people for supporting the double engine government.” IANS.
Meanwhile, according to the trends, HAM is likely to get six seats.
Early trends from the Election Commission of India (ECI) show that the BJP is emerging as the largest party in the Bihar Assembly elections, currently leading in 89 of the 243 seats.
As of 1.10 pm, the BJP was ahead on 90 seats, confirming its position as the single largest party, while the Nitish Kumar-led Janata Dal (United) was ahead on 80 seats.
Both the parties, who are allies in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), are aiming for victory to form the government again under the leadership of Nitish Kumar.
Till 11 am, JDU was leading on 83 seats, while BJP was leading on 78 seats. The situation changed dramatically within the next half hour, as the allies competed hard for the title of largest party.
NDA is currently leading on 198 seats, while the Grand Alliance is leading on 39 seats.
The counting process for all 243 assembly seats began at 8 am, starting with the verification of postal ballots. This was followed by counting of Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) votes from 8.30 am, which took place under elaborate multi-layered security arrangements across the state.
The candidates of both the alliances expressed confidence in their performance. NDA leaders emphasized that the people of Bihar have reposed faith in the guarantees of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the work of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for the development of the state.
The RJD-led grand alliance claimed that Bihar “voted for change” and expressed hope that Tejashwi Yadav would form the next government.
The counting operations are being monitored by 243 returning officers and an equal number of counting observers appointed by the Election Commission.
More than 18,000 counting agents representing various candidates are present at the centers to closely monitor the process.
Entry into counting centers has been strictly restricted to persons with valid passes, and use of mobile phones inside the counting halls has been completely banned.
More than 70 crore voters participated in the elections, casting their votes to decide the fate of both the ruling NDA and the Grand Alliance. Voting was held in two phases on 6 and 11 November.
In the outgoing assembly, the NDA has 131 seats, including BJP’s 80, JD(U)’s 45, HAM(S)’s four and two independents. The opposition faction has 111 seats, of which RJD has 77, Congress has 19, CPI (ML) has 11, CPI (M) has two and CPI has two.
–IANS
JK/DPB