Patna: Counting of votes in the high-stakes close-to-call Bihar assembly elections, billed as a hot battle between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, will take place on Saturday.
The counting for the 243 seats of the assembly will begin at 8 am and the verdict for a majority of seats is expected by the early afternoon.
Most of the exit polls have predicted a close contest between the BJP-led NDA and the grand alliance of JD(U)-RJD-Congress with a slight edge to the Chief Minister Nitish Kumar-led grouping.
However, two of them, including Today's Chanakya and the one done by Hansa, have given a clear majority to the NDA.
While Kumar is not in the fray, among the prominent faces in the battle are mahadalit leader Jitan Ram Manjhi, who has fought from two seats, and two sons of RJD chief Lalu Prasad have also made their electoral debut.
The five-phased elections, which started on October 12 and ended on November 5, saw the lead campaigners from both the sides trading bitter accusations that at times turned personal.
Over a dozen FIRs were lodged by the poll authorities in Bihar against the top leaders of the two alliances relating to their alleged hate speeches. The accused included BJP chief Amit Shah, RJD supremo Lalu Prasad and JD(U) president Sharad Yadav.
Modi had led the NDA charge by holding over 30 rallies while Shah held 85-odd public meetings.
A win for the saffron alliance will help BJP shake off the opposition attack on it over the "climate of intolerance" and embolden it to push its agenda ahead of the Winter Session of Parliament.
However, a loss for it will reinvigorate the opposition ranks and help Kumar acquire a key role in national politics after he suffered a big setback in the Lok Sabha polls. A defeat for the grand alliance will deliver a body blow to the politics of Kumar and Prasad from which it may take a long time for them to recover.
Read: Omar Abdullah wants grand alliance to win majority in Bihar elections
As much as 56.80 per cent, the highest in assembly election in the state's history, of the 6.68 crore voters have exercised their franchise.
Votes are locked in 62,780 EVMs which would be counted tomorrow. A total of 14,580 officials have been put on duty for the counting process in Patna and other districts.
Fate of 3450 candidates, including 272 women, would be disclosed in the counting tomorrow.
With hours left for the suspense to be lifted, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar remained in his 7 Circular road residence throughout the day.
"There is no engagement of the CM besides interacting with some people in his residence," an official at his residence said.
"Everybody is in buoyant mood as we are sure a BJP-led NDA government would be formed after results tomorrow," state BJP Vice President Sanjay Mayukh said.
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