Initial results from exit polls conducted by various organizations seemed to indicate a slight lead for the grand alliance or Mahagatbandhan.
On average, exit polls are giving a slight lead of around 10-15 seats to the Grand Alliance.
According to News Nation, Mahagatbandhan got 45% of the votes while NDA got 44%.
It should be noted that exit pollsters tend to err on the side of caution and the actual victory margin and swings tend to be bigger than estimated by exit polls.
The Bihar elections are crucial for the current BJP leadership as any fallback will be used by anti-Modi front within the BJP to target Modi and Amit Shah.
However, it could also mean that comments made by leaders such as RSS Supremo Mohan Bhagwat about the need to re-examine reservation policy as well as recent incidents of violence by hard-core Hindu activists against Muslims and Dalits scared vulnerable social sections.
“The main issue was Mohan Bhagwat’s statement that OBC and Dalit reservation should be re-examined. This made the scene very hot,” said Lalu Prasad Yadav after going through the exit poll results. “The second issue was the attempt to polarize the situation on communal lines.”
“This created a wave of support for us as the OBCs and Dalits felt that our reservation was at stake.”
A clearly relaxed Yadav did not forget to crack his characteristic jokes. Asked about Modi’s 56-inch chest, he said: “A 56-inch chest can only bee found on a Yadav or Paswan (backward castes).”
If NDA comes second, it will lead to a tussle between the moderate leadership — led by Narendra Modi and Amit Shah — and the hardliners, who comprise the lower rung of the party leadership.
On the other hand, victory will only be the starting point for the Mahagatbandhan, which needs to figure out how to balance the two power centers within it — RJD Supremo Lalu Yadav and JDU leader Nitish Kumar.
As of now, the Bihar Election Exit poll results are as follows. Please refresh this page every 2 minutes for updated numbers.
| AAJTAK | NewsNation | India TV | Times Now | ABP News* | News 24 | News X | |
| Mahagatbandhan | 117 | 120-124 | 112-132 | 122 | 130 | 83 | 135 |
| NDA | 120 | 115-119 | 101-121 | 111 | 108 | 155 | 95 |
| Others | 6 | 3 to 5 | 6-14 | 10 | 5 | 5 | 18 |
[socialpoll id=”2307033″]