Bihar Election Live Updates
Patna: Counting of votes got underway on Tuesday morning for the three-phase Bihar assembly elections that may herald a new era in state politics, with exit polls predicting a victory for the RJD-led Grand Alliance.
After 16 hours of vote counting, the NDA seems poised for a clear majority with a tally of 124 seats. The Mahagathbandhan, on the other hand, is expected to win 111 seats.
PM Modi also thanked the women voters of Bihar by tweeting, "By voting in record numbers, the daughters and sisters of Bihar have shown how huge their contribution to an 'aatmanirbhar' Bihar is."
Union Home Minister has declared the NDA's victory in Bihar.
Putting out a series of tweets, he said, "The people of Bihar have once again rejected the politics of empty promises, caste and appeasement. This is the victory of the hopes and aspirations of every Bihari...the victory of the double engine govt of PM Modi and Nitish Kumar. Congratulations to the workers of the BJP."
As of 9 pm, data from Election Commission website says,
MARGIN OF VOTES IN TRENDS
2 Seats with margin less than 200
6 Seats with margin less than 500
6 Seats with margin less than 1000
13 Seats with margin less than 2000
19 Seats with margin less than 3000
37 Seats with margin less than 5000
As of 08.10 pm, the NDA has a lead on 123 seats while the Mahagathbandhan has a lead on 113.
122 seats are required to win the mandate in the Bihar assembly elections.
Results declared for 52 of the total 243 seats
BJP: 16
RJD: 16
JDU: 7
CPI (ML)L: 3
Congress: 3
Vikassheel Insaan Party: 2
AIMIM: 1
CPI: 1
CPI(M): 1
HAM: 1
Independent: 1
NDA
BJP : Vote Share ( 19.36 % )
JD(U) : Vote Share ( 15.15 % )
VIP : Vote Share ( 1.74 % )
HAM(S): Vote Share ( 0.88 % )
MAHAGATHBANDHAN
RJD : Vote Share ( 23.43 % )
INC : Vote Share ( 9.21 % )
CPI(ML)(L) : Vote Share ( 3.17 % )
CPI(M) : Vote Share ( 0.56 % )
CPI : Vote Share ( 0.71 % )
OTHERS
LJP : Vote Share ( 5.64 % )
AIMIM : Vote Share ( 1.24 % )
BSP: Vote Share ( 1.63 % )
Results declared for 31 of the total 243 seats
BJP: 10
RJD: 8
JDU: 6
Congress: 2
Vikassheel Insaan Party: 2
AIMIM: 1
CPI: 1
CPI(M): 1
Chandrika Rai, the father-in-law of RJD's Tej Pratap Yadav and JDU candidate from Parsa loses to RJD's Chhote Lal Ray.
Election Commission declares results for 22 out of 243 seats -
BJP: 6
RJD: 6
JDU: 4
Congress: 2
VIP: 2
AIMIM: 1
CPI(M): 1
Election Commission declares results for 16 out of the total 243 seats-
BJP wins 6
RJD wins 3
JD(U) & Vikassheel Insaan Party 2 each
Congress, CPI(M) & AIMIM 1 each
The poll body once again said that the counting of votes will go on till late night.
As Bihar election trends continue to evolve, the RJD has overtaken the BJP as the single-largest party. The RJD is currently leading on 71 seats while the BJP is leading on 68 seats.
The Bharatiya Janata Party candidate Awadhesh Singh has won over the RJD's Deo Kumar Chaurasia with a margin of 2,990 votes.
5 pm trends from the Election Commission show the BJP emerging as the single-largest party in the Bihar elections.
The BJP is currently leading on 73 seats and has already won 2 seats.
A close second is the Rashtriya Janata Dal with leads on 69 seats and wins on 2 seats.
The Congress has won the Aurangabad seat, as per the Election Commission.
Congress leader Anand Shankar Singh has beaten BJP's Ramadhir Singh by 2,243 votes.
The Rashtriya Janata Dal is still confident that the Mahagathbandhan will form the government in Bihar as a large portion of vote counting is left. "We are in touch with candidates and workers from all areas. News from all districts is in our favor. The counting will go on till late at night. A Mahagathbandhan government is guaranteed. Bihar has chosen change. We request all candidates and counting agents to remain in the counting hall till all votes are counted," the party tweeted.
BJP wins Darbhanga seat by over 10k votes: EC
Sanjay Saraogi of BJP wins Darbhanga seat by over 10,000 votes, EC confirmed
Chandra Bhushan, Election Commission Dy, has said that the Bihar Election Result 2020 is expected to be out only by late-night, "Earlier, the counting of the votes used to take place in 38 locations. Now, due to the coronavirus pandemic guidelines, it is taking place at 55 locations. This time, it will take 35 rounds per assembly constituency to get the Bihar election results."
JDU state president Vashishtha Narayan Singh is confident that NDA will again form a government under CM Nitish Kumar as trends show the alliance marching ahead of the RJD-led Grand Alliance.
Election Commission says 21.4 % counting has been done so far after 5 hours of vote-counting. Total votes cast this election season in Bihar was at 4 crores and out of that 87,88,780 votes have been counted so far.
According to the Election Commission, total 80 lakh votes have been counted so far and BJP has won 15,89,000 votes so far while JDU has secured 12,56,000 votes, Congress has won 7,29,000 votes, RJD has won 18,28,000. Chirag Paswan’s LJP has secured 4,92,000 votes. EC has also said so far, 1,44,000 votes have gone to NOTA.
Election Commission sources say 16% votes have been counted so far till 12:00 noon. An average of 6 rounds of counting have been completed till now and NDA has gained a lead over the Mahagathbandhan after the first rounds of counting in Bihar assembly election results.
Lalu Prasad’s son and RJD leader Tej Pratap Yadav has once again gained his lead over JDU candidate Raj Kumar Ray. Tej Pratap is now leading after securing over 15,000 votes while the JDU candidate has secured 12,000 votes so far, according to the Election Commission.
Mahagathbandhan candidate Ajit Kumar Singh of the CPI(ML) is leading in Dumraon by over 10,000 votes where Congress candidate Anjum Ara is trailing along with 17 other candidates. Shivang Vijay Singh was another prominent candidate in the Dumraon seat, but is also trailing.
RJD candidates leading in Gaya assembly seats
RJD candidate Surendra Yadav is leading in the Belaganj assembly seat in Gaya by 307 votes. BJP candidate Hari Manjhi is leading in the Bodh Gaya assembly seat in Gaya by 1,679 votes. RJD candidate Uday Narayan Choudhary is leading in the Imamganj assembly seat in Gaya by 2,007 votes. RJD candidate Samata Devi is leading in the Barachatti assembly seat in Gaya by 80 votes.
Trends show NDA crossing the majority mark of 122
Early trends at 10.45 am show the JDU-led NDA is leading in over 127 seats and has crossed the required majority mark of 122 while the RJD-led Mahagathbandhan is lagging behind with leads in 100 seats.
NDA has closed in on the gap with the RJD-led Grand Alliance and is now leading in over 100 seats while the RJD-led Mahagathbandhan is leading in over 110 seats now.
BJP leading in Lakhisarai after postal ballot counting: In Lakhisarai, after counting the postal ballots, BJP's Vijay Kumar Sinha has received 1,287 votes in and Amresh Kumar Aneesh of Congress has received 1,033 votes.
The opposition alliance is currently leading in 101 seats, the NDA in 98 seats in Bihar Election Results. The RJD is ahead in 66 seats, the Congress in 24, and the Left parties in 7 seats. The BJP is leading in 58 seats, the JDU in 31. The LJP is leading in 6 seats.
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Commercial LPG hike: Delhi restaurant owners warn of higher menu rates, job losses
New Delhi (PTI) A day after a 50 per cent rise in commercial LPG cylinder prices, Delhi's food business, with restaurant owners and street vendors have warned of higher menu rates, financial strain and potential job losses if the trend persists.
The price of commercial LPG was hiked by a steep Rs 993 per 19 kg cylinder, marking the third consecutive monthly hike amid rising global energy prices linked to the West Asia conflict.
For many in the restaurant industry, the spike has been both sudden and steep.
Manpreet Singh, honorary treasurer of the National Restaurant Association of India, said that eateries are already grappling with supply challenges alongside rising costs.
"There is a huge difficulty in getting these cylinders, and black marketing is also increasing in many unregulated sectors," he said, noting that prices that were once around Rs 1,600, often dropping to nearly Rs 1,300 with discounts, have now surged to between Rs 3,000 and Rs 4,000 per cylinder.
He further added that a medium-sized restaurant typically uses between two and five cylinders daily, making the increase particularly burdensome as costs mount.
Singh further said that as costs mount, smaller establishments could struggle to stay afloat. Instead, the association has advised restaurants to shift towards piped natural gas connections through Indraprastha Gas Limited as a more sustainable alternative.
"If this problem continues, PNG is the only long-term solution," he said, adding that temporary measures like coal offer limited relief due to slower cooking times and that it can largely be used only for tandoors.
Echoing similar concerns, Kabir Suri, owner of Mamagoto in Khan Market, said the impact is already visible across the industry. "There has been almost a threefold increase in cylinder prices for restaurants," he said, adding that rising fuel and logistics costs are compounding the pressure.
"If this continues, it will become a significant financial burden, and food prices will inevitably go up. Adding to this burden, higher fuel costs are also affecting logistics and transportation, making a price rise unavoidable. The extent of the impact will vary between small eateries and large chains depending on their scale," he said.
Global oil prices have surged nearly 50 per cent following disruptions in energy supply chains due to the West Asia conflict, pushing up commercial fuel costs and transport expenses.
A West Delhi-based restaurateur said they are trying to manage rising costs while keeping their staff secure. "We are trying to ensure that our staff, from kitchen workers to waiters, are paid on time and do not face immediate hardship," the owner said.
"We are a small restaurant with seating for about 20 to 25 people at a time. But if this continues for long, we will have to take difficult calls. There is only so much we can absorb, and menu prices will have to go up. We hope this does not continue for a longer period," he said.
Another restaurant owner in North Delhi, who did not wish to be named, said operational adjustments alone may not be enough. "We are checking our costs very carefully and trying to cut wherever possible, but if fuel prices remain high, it will eventually affect how we run the business," the owner said.
"Coal helps in tandoor cooking, but it takes more time," the owner further added.
The strain is even more acute among street vendors, many of whom operate on thin margins. A vendor in Saket said he had recently expanded his business, moving from a mobile cart to a rented outlet.
"I have a family to feed and more responsibilities now. Earlier, I managed with a moving cart, but after renting the place, expenses increased," he said. "Whenever cylinders were unavailable, I had to buy them at higher rates in the black market. Now even regular supply is too expensive, and if this continues, we may have to shut down," he added.
In Laxmi Nagar, another vendor said they are struggling to keep the business running. "Sometimes we even used domestic cylinders from home when supply ran out because we had to keep the stall running," he said, adding that rising costs leave little choice but to increase prices or bear losses.
On April 1, the rates of commercial LPG cylinders were hiked by Rs 195.50 per cylinder, followed by a Rs 114.5 hike on March 1, taking the total increase over the past three months to Rs 1,303. With the latest revision, a 19 kg commercial LPG cylinder now costs Rs 3,371.5 in Delhi, up from Rs 2,078.5 earlier.
The prices of domestic LPG cylinders used for household cooking have remained unchanged. They were last increased by Rs 60 per 14.2 kg cylinder on March 7 and currently cost Rs 913 in Delhi.
