New Delhi: Early trends in the Bihar assembly election results show strong gains for the National Democratic Alliance in several constituencies with high Muslim populations. The numbers indicate a shift from previous elections where secular alliances received extensive support from Muslim voters.
The NDA appears set to secure at least 16 Muslim dominated seats. Janata Dal United has recorded the largest rise within the alliance. It is ahead in about eight more seats than it held in 2020. Chirag Paswan’s LJP Ram Vilas is leading in six seats where Muslim voters form a major share of the electorate.
The Mahagathbandhan has struggled to translate its campaign into votes. Its focus on employment and a new chief ministerial candidate has not produced gains in these areas. The Rashtriya Janata Dal is trailing in at least seven Muslim dominated seats it won in 2020. Congress is behind in four such seats. In 2020, the RJD held 18 of these seats and Congress held six.
Data from the 2022 survey shows Muslims form 17.7 percent of the state population. In earlier elections they supported the MGB in large numbers. Eighty percent of Muslim votes went to the MGB in 2015 and 77 percent in 2020.
The NDA crossed the majority mark early in the day. Both the BJP and JD United have performed well across regions. The MGB remains behind, although the RJD continues to be one of the stronger individual parties in several constituencies. Jan Suraaj is not making a substantial impact in the early trends.
The Election Commission has deployed 243 Returning Officers and an equal number of Counting Observers. Over 18,000 counting agents are monitoring the process. Strict rules are in place at counting centres. More than seven crore voters participated in the poll held in two phases.
