Will Nitish Kumar take oath as chief minister a tenth time? Can Tejashwi Yadav lead Mahagathbandhan to victory? Is Prashant Kishor really the ‘X factor’ this election season? Answers to all these questions and more will be revealed today as the battle for Bihar enters its final leg.
Polling in Bihar was held in two phases (6 and 11 November), with the state witnessing a record voter turnout of 67.13 percent—highest since 1951.
Though early exit polls predicted an NDA majority, some pollsters have stuck their neck out by predicting that the battle for Bihar will go down to the wire.
Bihar has 243 assembly seats, which makes 122 the majority mark.
Stay tuned to ThePrint for the latest on Bihar election result.
LIVE | Bihar election result
6 am: Counting of postal ballots to begin at 8 am
On Thursday, the Election Commission of India (ECI) released a press note stating that counting of postal ballots will begin at 8 am Friday, followed by EVM counting at 8.30 am.
It reiterated that counting of postal ballots is to be completed before the penultimate round of EVM counting. It also said that 4,372 counting tables have been set up across Bihar’s 243 assembly constituencies where returning officers and more than 18,000 counting agents appointed by candidates will oversee the counting process.
“During EVM counting, Control Units are brought to the counting tables round-wise and shown to the counting agents to verify that the seals are intact and serial numbers match the records in Form 17C (Part I),” it explained. The poll panel added that the number of votes recorded in EVMs is cross-verified with entries in Form 17C and in case of any mismatch, “VVPAT slips from that polling station are to be counted mandatorily”.
In its press note, the EC also said that no re-polls were requested by the 2,616 candidates in the fray this time, or the 12 recognised political parties.
In the run-up to the election, poll panel had come under intense criticism over its decision to conduct a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, which resulted in the final electoral roll comprising 7,45,26,858 electors.
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