ISLAMABAD: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s National Democratic Alliance (NDA) alliance in Bihar has registered a clear victory, and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is set for a fifth consecutive term, as the coalition won 202 of the 243 seats in the state, said an Indian media report.
The victory has come amid allegations of Modi’s Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) running ‘special trains’ for its supporters to Bihar, expulsion of names from voter rolls, and allegations of duplicate voting.
Kumar is the state's longest-serving chief minister. Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav won by over 11,000 votes in Raghopur.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, addressing party workers and supporters at the BJP headquarters in Delhi after the NDA's landslide win in Bihar, congratulated people for reposing faith in democracy and the Election Commission by voting in record numbers in the assembly elections, the report said.
Congress ‘a liability’
Modi said the Congress party has no positive vision for the country, and he had warned the Congress' allies that the party is a parasite and a liability for them.
He said the Bihar assembly win is the beginning of a new era and the state will progress faster in the next five years.
The counting of votes began at 8 am. Most exit polls have predicted a clean sweep for the NDA, of which the JD(U) is a part.
The state registered a historic voter turnout of 67.13% in the two-phase elections to the 243-member assembly that was held on November 6 and 11, said the Indian media report.
Voter rolls
Earlier this year, the Election Commission of India (ECI) conducted a similar revision in the eastern state of Bihar, home to more than 130 million people, ahead of its state elections beginning November 6, AFP reported.
The process led to the exclusion of around 6.5 million names, which the ECI said was necessary to prevent the inclusion of "foreign illegal immigrants."
‘Special trains’
Earlier, Indian politicians raised questions over special trains that were allegedly run from the state of Haryana to Bihar just before polling on November 3rd.
Polling for Legislative Assembly elections in the Indian state of Bihar began on November 6 and will continue till November 11.
In a press conference on November 9, independent lawmaker Kapil Sibal and politician AD Singh asked the Indian Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw why special trains from Haryana to Bihar were run on November 3rd just before the polling.
‘Duplicate voting’
Questions have been raised about the integrity of voter records after multiple allegations of duplicate voting surfaced during the recent elections in the Indian state of Bihar.
The claims, backed by images, EPIC (Electors Photo Identity Card) details, and voting-day photographs, were shared publicly on X by AltNews Co-Founder Muhammad Zubair, who called on the Election Commission of India (ECI) and local authorities to respond.
'Zero repolls'
Meanwhile, the ECI has said that the Bihar Assembly Election 2025 concluded with a historic milestone, a record voter turnout of 67.13%, the highest ever recorded in the state since Independence, and “zero repolls” across all constituencies.
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