10 key takeaways from Bihar Election results 2020

The saffron alliance is gaining the edge, defying predictions of the exit polls

After a neck-and-neck battle between the Tejashwi Yadav-led Mahagathbandhan and Nitish Kumar-led NDA in the first half of the counting day, the saffron alliance is gaining the edge, defying predictions of the Bihar exit polls. Most of the exit polls had projected a victory for the Grand Alliance.

As the counting continues, here are the 10 key takeaways from the Bihar Assembly election results 2020:

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1. The NDA has crossed the halfway mark of 122 seats, according to media reports. As of 12:50 pm, the NDA was leading in 128 seats, while the Mahagathbandhan was leading in 103 seats.

2. Tejashwi Yadav has been leading in Raghopur constituency against BJP's Satish Kumar. At the time of filing this copy, Yadav was leading by a margin of over 2,500 votes.

3. The BJP seems to have saved the day for Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar as it is leading in 73 seats, compared to JD(U), which is leading in 48 constituencies.

4. Tejashwi Yadav's RJD is leading in 64 seats, while the Congress is ahead in 20 seats.

5. RJD leader Tej Pratap Yadav secures lead of nearly 150 votes over JDU's Raj Kumar Ray in Hasanpur seat.

6. The BJP is emerging as a single largest party in Bihar as per the current trends. The party seems to have extended its reach in Bihar compared to last year as it is leading in 20 more seats compared to last year. In the 2015 Assembly election, the saffron party had won in 53 constituencies.

7. Meanwhile, it is a setback for Nitish Kumar, whose party is now leading in 43 seats, indicating that the party is underperforming in 24 seats where it won in the last assembly elections. The JD(U) has won 71 seats in the last Assembly elections.

8. Chirag Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party nominees were ahead of their rivals in five seats, Asaduddin Owaisi's AIMIM and Bahujan Samaj Party contestants were leading in one seat each, and Independents in 5.

9. Former chief minister and NDA ally HAM chief Jitan Ram Manjhi was trailing in Imamganj. He was trailing by a margin of over 400 against RJD candidate Uday Narain Choudhary, at the time of filing this copy.

10. Veteran socialist leader Sharad Yadav's daughter Subhashini, the Congress nominee for Bihariganj seat in her father's former pocket borough Madhepura, was also trailing. So was Luv Sinha, the son of actor-turned-politician Shatrughan Sinha. He is the Congress nominee from Bankipur in the state capital.