Bihar assembly election result 2020 LIVE: BJP, Left score big; JD(U), Congress far behind, shows EC data

Bihar assembly election result 2020 LIVE Updates: Bihar is witnessing one of its most prominent elections in the recent times where most pollsters have backed young Tejashwi Yadav-led five-party Grand Alliance to beat Nitish Kumar. A win for the RJD-led coalition will bring a redemption of sorts for Tejashwi Yadav whose leadership abilities were called into question after his party failed to win a single seat in the Lok Sabha elections last year. The NDA had won 39 of the 40 seats and one had gone to the Congress, an RJD ally. 

It may also revive the fortunes of the three Left parties--The CPI, CPI-M and CPI-ML--which were consigned to near oblivion over the past two decades. The five-party 'Mahagathbandhan' also comprises these three Left parties, which were a force to reckon with in the past. Meanwhile, Kumar has already announced that it will be his last assembly election. 

Here are Bihar assembly election result 2020 LIVE Updates: 

8.51 pm:  The BJP has scored high in terms of winning percentage in the Bihar assembly polls, while its partner JD(U) has performed relatively poorly. In the opposition camp, the Left front has outscored its partners with a much better strike rate. According to the latest trends on the Election Commission (EC) website, the BJP won or was leading in 74 seats out of the total 110 contested with a strike rate of over 65 per cent, while JD(U)'s score was less than 40 per cent. In the opposition side, Congress was the worst with a less than 30 per cent strike rate, while the Left front scored more than 60 per cent and the RJD over 50 per cent. Within the NDA, Jitanram Manjhi-led HAM has managed to score about 40 per cent, while the Vikasheel Insaan Party (VIP) was below this mark. In terms of vote share, the RJD appeared having got nearly 23 per cent, while BJP got nearly 20 per cent, as per the latest EC data. 

8.10 pm: The BJP appeared set to leave its ally JD(U) far behind in the seat tally, emerging as the senior partner in the alliance for the first time in about two decades. The saffron party was leading or had won in 73 seats in the 243-member assembly, while the corresponding figure for Chief Minister Nitish Kumar-led party was merely 41, according to the Election Commission figures at 7.50 pm. 

8.06 pm: Lalu Yadav elder son and RJD leader Tej Pratap Yadav wins from Hasanpur. He clocked 80,991 vote or 47% of total vote share in the constituency. His  nearest riaval was RAJ KUMAR RAYof JD (U), who got 59, 783 votes, asper Election Commission of India website

7.56 pm: While Chirag Paswan was talking of forming a government in Bihar along with the BJP in the run-up to the Assembly election, his LJP’s dismal performance couldn't even get it a spot in the list of parties winning seats in the state on the Election Commission’s website, almost 12 hours into the counting. There were 11 parties of all hues, including Asaduddin Owaisi`s AIMIM which had won one seat and was leading on four others, and even Independents were listed but the Lok Janshakti Party, which seems set for an electoral blank, was conspicuously absent. However, the site showed that the LJP, which had contested 137 seats, garnered 5.61 per cent vote share, as of 7.30 p.m.  

7.36 pm: Elated over BJP's performance in Bihar Assembly elections and bypolls in various states, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday said the poll results have reiterated that "Modi hai to mumkin hai", and the party has given hints of its performance in the future elections.  He was speaking to reporters at the UP BJP office here.  "Under the leadership and guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and completely setting aside all the speculation in Bihar, in today's results of Bihar and bypolls in various states, the public have proved that 'Modi hai to mumkin hai' (if there is Modi, then it is possible)," Adityanath told PTI.  

7.26 pm: Union Home Minister Amit Shah dialed Chief Minister Nitish Kumar as the two leaders talked about the Bihar poll results and trends, sources close to the JD(U) president told PTI. Though the sources refused to divulge the details of their telephonic conversation, they said they discussed the poll results and trends. 

7.02: The Shiv Sena on Tuesday said JD-U leader Nitish Kumar should thank it if he retains the post of Bihar chief minister despite his party winning less seats in the Assembly polls. "I heard BJP leaders saying in unison (on TV) that only Nitish babu will be the chief minister. Nitish babu should thank Shiv Sena for that. Not keeping promises will not happen in Bihar because the Shiv Sena has shown in Maharashtra what can happen if word is not kept," Sanjay Rout Raut told PTI.

6.40 pm: Election Commission says 2.7 crore EVM votes counted till 5.30 PM, out of total over 4 crore cast in Bihar assembly polls.

6.24 pm: Top RJD leader Abdul Bari Siddiqui and Lalu Prasad's man Bhola Yadav lost to their BJP rivals on Keoti and Hayaghat seats respectively in Darbhanga. Siddiqui lost to BJP's Murari Mohan Jha while Bhola Yadav was defeated by BJP's Ramchandra Prasad on Hayaghat assembly seat. BJP's Sanjay Saraogi defeated his nearest RJD rival Amar Nath Gami on Darbhanga town seat by over 10,000 votes.  

6.16 pm: Shatrughan Sinha’s son Luv Sinha, who was contesting from Bankipur seat, was trailing by 13,336 votes against his competitor and Bharatiya Janata Party candidate Nitin Nabin who so far got 24,784 votes, reports IANS 

6.09 pm: 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. JD(U) spokesperson K C Tyagi told PTI that a "sinister" campaign was run against Nitish Kumar as part of a "conspiracy". "Apne bhi shamil the aur begane bhi (Our own also harmed us along with the outsiders)," he said, without taking any names. 

5.49 pm:  With the numbers coming from the Bihar Assembly poll results favouring the Bharatiya Janata Party-led (BJP) Natinal Democratic Alliance (NDA), celebrations have begun at the BJP headquarters in the national capital, repored IANS. The BJP supporters could be seen waving party flags and raising slogans in the name of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the saffron party.

5.28 pm: Counting of votes for the Bihar assembly elections will take longer than usual and continue till late in the night because of 63 per cent increase in the number of EVMs, the Election Commission said on Tuesday asserting that the pace of counting of votes is not slow

5:15 pm: Bihar chief Sanjay Jaiswal says there is no dispute regarding who will lead the government if the alliance returns to power in the state. "The issue has been cleared by PM Modi and party chief JP Nadda much before the elections," Jaiswal says while responding to a query whether CM Nitish Kumar will lead the NDA government if the alliance secures a majority in the assembly.

4:52 pm: As per the latest trends, the NDA is leading on 127 seats while the RJD is ahead on 106. It is believed that there is still a very close contest on several seats that can swing either way.

4:40 pm: Congress MP Karti Chidambaram on Tuesday contradicted him by saying that EVMs are not to be blamed for electoral defeats. "Whatever be the outcome of any election, it`s time to stop blaming the EVMs. In my experience, the EVM system is robust, accurate and dependable," he tweeted.

4:12 pm: Congress leader Udit Raj on Tuesday raised questions on the reliability of EVMs asking why they cannot be hacked if satellites can be controlled from the earth. He also asked if Donald Trump could have lost in the US elections had EVMs been used.

"If the direction of satellites to Mars and Moon can be controlled from the earth, then why can't EVM be hacked," Udit Raj said in a tweet in Hindi. "If elections were held in America with EVMs, could Trump have lost," he asked.

4:00 pm: The by-poll to the Valmiki Nagar Lok Sabha constituency has been necessitated by the death of JD(U) sitting MP Baidyanath Mahto, Sunil Kumars father. There are seven candidates fighting in the by-poll. The polling was held on November 7, when the third phase of voting had taken place for the three-phase Bihar Assembly elections.

3:45 pm: The JD(U) has established a lead Of more than 16,000 votes over its nearest Congress rival in the by-election to the Valmiki Nagar Lok Sabha constituency as counting of votes is underway on the Parliamentary seat where voting was held alongside the state elections. As per the Election Commission website, JD(U)s Sunil Kumar has polled 2,22,200 votes of the total 5,67,436 counted till around 3 pm. His nearest rival Pravesh Kumar Mishra of the Congress has polled 2,05,718 votes till now.

3:35 pm: The NDA continues to extend its lead in Bihar by leading in 131 seats so far while the RJD is only ahead on 103 seats. Members of the Bharatiya Janata Party have already started celebrating with dholak, celebrate with 'gulal' as latest trends show NDA leading over Mahagathbandhan.

3:03 pm: The Election Commission has confirmed that Sanjay Saraogi of BJP has won Darbhanga seat by over 10,000 votes. NDA continues to lead the overall tally with 128 seats.

2:47 pm: As NDA takes lead in Bihar elections, opposition has once again raised questions over EVM machines. However, election commission has dismissed these claims. "It has been clarified time and again that EVMs are robust and tamperproof. The integrity of EVMs is without any doubt and merits no further clarification," Chandrabhushan Kumar, Deputy Election Commissioner, rejects Congress' ''EVMs are hacked'' charge.

2:35 pm: JD(U) spokesman Ajay Alok said the people of Bihar have faith in Nitish Kumar and that is reflected in the trends in favour of the NDA. 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.

2:20 pm: Bihar JD(U) president Vasistha Narayan Singh said they were confident since the beginning that the people of the state would like the ruling coalition to continue and expedite the development process. Asked about the BJP performing better than the JD(U) and if Chief Minister Kumar will continue in the post, Singh said, "When top BJP leaders themselves have said that Kumar will be the CM irrespective of the individual scores of the alliance partners, is there any need to clarify this further?"

2:12 pm: West Bengal Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Dilip Ghosh, who is on a political visit to Jalpaiguri, on Tuesday said that the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) would win and form the government in Bihar. "It is true that the electoral fight is really tough in Bihar. But I am confident that the BJP-led NDA will win and form the state government in Bihar," Ghosh said.

1:50 pm: Counting of votes for the Bihar assembly elections will take longer than usual and continue till late in the night because of 63 per cent increase in the number of EVMs, the Election Commission said on Monday. The official said the counting has been "glitch-free" so far.

1:25 pm: Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Bihar, HR Srinivas has informed that around 4.10 crore votes were cast, 92 lakh votes counted so far. He said that earlier there used to be 25-26 rounds of counting, this time it went up to around 35 rounds. So the counting well continue till late evening.

1:15 pm: In Samastipur's Rosra, BJP candidate Virendra Kumar is leading with 13000 votes. In Ujiyarpur, RJD's Rishi Kumar is leading with 2300 votes. In Bhagalpur's Gopalpur, JD(U) is leading against RJD with more than 4000 votes. Meanwhile, RJD's Tej Pratap Yadav is leading from Hasanpur assembly seat, after six rounds of counting of votes, says Election Commission.

1:02 pm: As per the trends by Zee News, NDA is now leading on 127 seats while JDU is ahead on 104. The gap between the two parties has started to widen and a clear picture should be available in the next few hours. However, the final result is unlikely before late evening. 

12:35 pm: RJD's Tej Pratap Yadav is leading from Hasanpur assembly seat, after six rounds of counting of votes, says Election Commission. In Araria's  , BJP's Ranjit Yadav is leading with 3897 votes. In Araria seat, JD(U) Shagufta Azeem is leading with 3897 votes. In Sikti, RJD's Shatrughan Mandal is leading with 1163 votes, as per trends.

12:05 pm: In Bhagalpur, Congress candidate Ajit Sharma is leading with 263 seats. In Nalanda seat, JD(U) minister Shravan Kumar is leading with 1865 votes. In Siwan Sadara, BJP's Omprakash is leading with 446 votes against RJD's Awadh Bihari Chaudhry. In Daraunda, CPI-MLL Amarnath Yadav is leading with 1468 votes against BJP's Karanjeet.

11:38 am: The overall battle also reflects on smaller contests. RJD CM candidate Tejaswi Yadav is leading from Raghopur, JD(U)'s Jayant Raj is leading in Amarpur with 535 votes. In the Sikta assembly seat, independent candidate Dilip Verma is leading with 3000 votes.

11:25 am: Bihar elections have always been full of surprises. All exit polls had fallen the last time and we are already witnessing several twists and turns this time too. After falling behind in the initial trends, NDA has made a comeback and is now leading on 124 seats.

11:15 am: State minister and BJP leader Nand Kishore Yadav, however, was trailing Pravin Singh of the Congress by 1,778 votes in Patna Sahib seat. The LJP is leading in three seats, and the AIMIM the BSP and in one seat each. 

11:05 am: As per the early trends, RJD leader Tej Pratap Yadav is trailing Raj Kumar Ray of Janata Dal (United) by 1,365 votes in Hasanpur seat. Ace shooter and BJP nominee Shreyasi Singh was leading over her rivals in Jamui.

10:55 am: This is turning out to be an interesting battle. NDA is now ahead of Tejashwi Yadav-led Mahagathbandhan. The BJP+ is ahead in 112 out of 243 seats as of now. Grand Alliance is leading in 106 seats, Others in 10.

10:35 am: As per the latest trends, Tejashwi Yadav-led Grand Alliance is ahead in 115 seats while the NDA is leading in 113 seats. Tej Pratap Yadav trailing from Hasanpur seat; NDA takes lead in 107 seats. 

10:20 am: Bihar minister and BJP leader Nand Kishore Yadav trails behind Pravin Singh of Congress by 1,778 votes in Patna Sahib seat.

10:00 am: As per the latest trends, BJP has closed down the gap on the Mahagathbandhan and there is a neck and neck battle going on between the two. While BJP is now leading on 113 seats, RJD is leading on 112 seats.

9:50 am: According to the Election Commission data, BJP is ahead on 9, JDU and RJD leading on 5 seats each, Congress has a lead on 3, Vikassheel Insaan Party ahead on 1 seat. As per trends, JDU's Jai Kumar Singh is trailing from Dinara constituency; Maskoor Usmani from Congress is trailing from Jale seat while Pappu Yadav is trailing from Madhepura. Congress candidate Luv Sinha is trailing from Bankipore

9:36 am: If Tejashwi Yadav goes on to win the Bihar assembly elections, as predicted by most pollsters, he will become the youngest chief minister of India at the age of 31. Currently, 37-year-old Pema Khandu, Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh, is the youngest Chief Minister of any state in the country.

9:20 am: Mahagathbandhan' takes lead in 93 seats, NDA ahead in 70 in early trends. Tejashwi Yadav's elder brother and former Health Minister of Bihar Tej Pratap Yadav tweets ''Tejashwi Bhav'' as counting of votes continue.

8:50 am: As per the latest trends reported by Zee News, the Tejashwi Yadav-led Mahagathbandhan is leading on around 70 seats while the NDA is ahead on 46. This can turn out to be a close battle between the two fronts. Meanwhile, Yadav's supporters have alreay started gathering outside his house.

8:32 am: The initial numbers are out and trends suggest that Tejashwi Yadav-led RJD is leading in as many as 55 seats while JDU is ahead on just 10. Meanwhile, BJP is leading on 21 seats.

8:20 am: Counting started at 8 am at 55 centres spread across 38 districts amid tight security and precautions to avoid the spread of COVID-19 pandemic during the process. Over 57 per cent of about 7.30 crore electors have exercised their franchise in what is the first major election in the country since the onset of the pandemic.

Bihar election result 2020 vote per centage 

8:10 am: The voter turnout in the first, second and third phases of voting being held on October 28, November 3 and November 7 respectively, were recorded at 54 per cent, 55.7 per cent and 56.02 per cent respectively.

8:00 am: The counting of votes at 55 different centres has started. The picture will be clear by evening but you can catch live trends at the following websites of Election Commission of India – eciresults.nic.in, eci.gov.in, and results.eci.gov.in.

7:59 am: Wrapping up his campaign for the Bihar Assembly polls, in which he has been overshadowed both by ally BJP and rival RJD, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar sought votes saying this election was his “last”.

7:58 am: Leading up to the elections, Tejashwi Yadav conducted over 250 rallies changing the political environment in the state. He also stayed away from controveries and didn't use Lalu Prasad Yadav's images on party posters. 

7:55 am: The counting of votes is set to start in another 5 minutes. Several security arrangements have been made in the state to ensure that the process is conducted smoothly. 

Bihar assembly election result 2020 important battles 

The state has 243 assembly constituencies and the most keenly watched will obviously be Raghopur in Vaishali district from where Tejashwi Yadav is seeking re-election. Tejashwi's elder brother Tej Pratap Yadav is contesting from Hasanpur in Samastipur district. 

Kumar is a member of the legislative council and has not contested the assembly election. Raghopur has been in the past represented by his parents Lalu Prasad and Rabri Devi both former chief ministers. 

Bihar assembly election result 2020 Key ministers to watch out for  

Tuesday's counting will also decide the political fate of nearly a score of ministers. Prominent among them are Nand Kishore Yadav (Patna Sahib), Pramod Kumar (Motihari), Rana Randhir (Madhuban), Suresh Sharma (Muzaffarpur), Shrawan Kumar (Nalanda), Jai Kumar Singh (Dinara) and Krishnanandan Prasad Verma (Jehanabad).

Bihar assembly election result 2020 preparations 

According to Chief Electoral Officer H R Srinavasa, central armed police forces have been deployed at the strong rooms, where the EVMs have been stored since the completion of voting, and the halls where these will be unsealed Tuesday morning after counting of postal ballots gets over. Srinivasa that while 19 companies of the central armed police forces will be deployed at strong rooms and the halls where counting will take place, another 59 have been entrusted with maintaining law and order. Each company comprises roughly 100 personnel.