BJP supporter waves a BJP flag to celebrate NDA's lead during the counting of votes for the Bihar Assembly Elections results BCCL
The final results of the Bihar election are in and the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has won across 125 seats.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alone was able to garner 74 seats while Janata Dal United (JDU) under performed with only 43 wins.
Despite the majority being with the NDA, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) remains the single largest party in the state.
The nail biting tug-of-war between the Grand Alliance and the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has come to a close with the NDA hitting the magic mark of 122 seats late last night — enough for a majority to form Bihar’s new government. In the final tally, the NDA has a total of 125 wins under its belt.
Election officials count votes at a counting centre at A.N. College in Patna on counting day of Bihar Assembly polls
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), on its part, had already declared victory yesterday with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Amit Shah and other senior officials thanking voters for their contribution.
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Alliance
Won
National Democratic Alliance (NDA)
125
Grand Alliance (Mahagathbandhan)
110
Others
8
Source: Election Commission
The NDA may have the majority, but the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) remains the single largest party in the state.
Party
Won
Total
243
Rashtriya Janata Dal
75
Bharatiya Janata Party
74
Janata Dal (United)
43
Indian National Congress
19
Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) (Liberation)
12
All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen
5
Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular)
4
Vikassheel Insaan Party
4
Communist Party of India
2
Communist Party of India (Marxist)
2
Bahujan Samaj Party
1
Independent
1
Lok Jan Shakti Party
1
Narrow margins make for a close election
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This year's Bihar elections are a face off between the Grand Alliance and the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). The Mahagathbandhan — led by the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) along with the Indian National Congress — was leading in the early trends but the script soon flipped on them with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) making a stunning comeback.
The margins have been extremely narrow in certain constituencies, leaving the field open for last minute changes.
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Challenger coalition
Number of seats contested
RJD
144
Congress
70
CPI (ML)
19
CPI
6
CPI (M)
4
Voting took place in three phases on October 28, November 2, and November 7. The turnout clocked in at 54%, 55.7% and 56.02% respectively.
The final results defy the exit polls, which projected that the RJD-Congress-Left alliance would come out ahead of the JDU-BJP coalition indicating the possibility of a non-JDU government in the state of Bihar for the first time in 15 years.
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