Patna:The grand alliance is all set to score a landslide victory with nearly a two-thirds majority to give Nitish Kumar a third term in power after decimating the BJP-led alliance in the high-stakes assembly elections in Bihar.
The JDU-RJD-Congress alliance was leading in 166 out of the 243 seats, much more than the half-way mark of 122. The JD (U) alone was leading in 71 seats while the RJD headed by Lalu Prasad was up in 74 seats. The Congress was leading in 21 seats.
On the rival side, the NDA was ahead in 66 seats. While the leader of the alliance BJP was ahead in 59, its partners HAM (secular) was leading in 3 seats and RLSP and LJP were ahead in two each.
CPI(ML-L) was leading in three seats and independents in four as per the trends available on 240 seats.
As the grand alliance surged ahead, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who had put up an aggressive campaign addressing over 30 rallies, called up Kumar to congratulate him on the poll victory.
“Had a telephone conversation with Shri @nitishkumar & congratulated him on the victory,” Modi tweeted.
Immediately thereafter, Kumar tweeted, “Just received a phone call from the Prime Minister congratulating me…thank you Modiji.”
BJP chief Amit Shah also congratulated Kumar and Lalu on the massive victory.
“Our good wishes to the new government to take Bihar on the path of development,” he said.
“We respect the mandate of the people of Bihar… I congratulate Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad Yadav on their victory in Bihar Assembly elections,” the BJP chief tweeted.