Patna: All eyes were on the Bihar Assembly Election candidates before the counting of the votes commenced at 8 am on Tuesday. This year, Bihar recorded 57.05 per cent turnout in the assembly elections as voters undeterred by the COVID-19 pandemic stepped out of their homes and cast their vote.
The exit polls for the elections predicted a clear win for the ‘Mahagathbandhan’ and indicated at the dethroning of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. As per the polls, the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) will end up with single digits in the vote-counting tally.
Times Now C-Voter Survey predicted that the Mahagathbandhan alliance will form the government with 120 seats while the NDA will end up with 116 seats. Further, the survey predicted that the MGB will win with a landslide margin of 180 seats.
Arrangements by the Election Commission
Ahead of the counting, the Election Commission has made several arrangements, keeping in mind the coronavirus outbreak. A total of 55 counting centres were set up across 38 districts of the state. A maximum of three counting centres each has been set up in four districts of East Champaran (which has 12 assembly constituencies), Gaya (10 constituencies), Siwan (eight constituencies) and Begusarai (seven).
Bihar Chief Electoral Officer H R Srinivasa said that a three-tier security system has been established by the EC to monitor the counting centres. He said, “We have deployed 19 companies of CAPF just for the security of the strong rooms and counting centres. Besides, we have 59 CAPF companies to ensure law and order during and in the aftermath of the counting process.”
Here are key developments of the counting-
The counting began at 8 am.
