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Patna, Nov 14 (IANS) Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraj and grand alliance’s deputy chief ministerial face Mukesh Sahni’s Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) were unable to make a lead in any constituency till 3.50 pm, according to Bihar election trends.
Exit polls had predicted that Jan Suraj would win between zero to two seats and the trends at 3.50 pm reflected this forecast.
Jan Suraj was considered a potential ‘X factor’ in this election, mainly because of Prashant Kishor’s excellent track record as an election strategist.
Kishor has been credited with leading electoral victories for Nitish Kumar in the 2015 Bihar elections, Jagan Mohan Reddy and YSR Congress Party in Andhra Pradesh in 2019, and Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress in the 2021 West Bengal Assembly elections.
Despite this, many exit polls predicted zero seats for Jan Suraj, which Kishor himself acknowledged, commenting before the counting began that his party would either “do very well or lose”.
On the other hand, Mukesh Sahni’s VIP is trailing on all the 15 seats it contested. Sahni, who had decided not to contest the elections personally, was positioned as the deputy chief ministerial face of the grand alliance.
Sahni’s brother, Santosh Sahni, is ranked eighth among 12 candidates in Gaura village, where BJP’s Sujit Kumar is leading by a margin of over 10,000 votes, the Election Commission website shows.
Sahni, a former Bollywood set designer who entered politics, was considered crucial in uniting the Mallah, Sahni and Nishad votes in Mithilanchal and Seemanchal regions, making him a key figure in the grand alliance’s strategy.
According to the latest trends at 3.50 pm, NDA is leading on 209 seats, while the Grand Alliance is behind on 29 seats.
The overall voter turnout in the two-phase elections in Bihar was 66.91 per cent, the highest since the first elections in 1951.
–IANS
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