Bihar elections: Vote counting underway in state where Modi’s party faces key test

Votes are being counted in the eastern Indian state of Bihar, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) hopes to return to power with its alliance partner.

The elections were held in two phases on November 6 and 11 and the state witnessed a record voter turnout of 66.91%, the highest since the first Bihar elections in 1951, the Election Commission (EC) of India said.

Several exit polls predict a victory for the BJP alliance, although such polls have been wrong in the past.

The election was held after a controversial revision of electoral rolls that the opposition said would exclude genuine voters and give an advantage to Modi’s party, a charge both the BJP and the EC deny.

The counting of votes began at 08:00 local time (02:30 GMT) on Friday.

The trends are expected to become clearer by midday local time, although the count will not be completed until the afternoon.

The Bihar polls serve as a precursor to several other key state elections next year in West Bengal, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, where the BJP is not in power and has struggled to make gains.

Bihar, with more than 74 million voters, is India’s poorest state and millions of people migrate to other parts of the country in search of employment. It is also one of the few states in India where Modi’s party has not yet managed to form a government on its own.

The outgoing government is an alliance between the BJP and the Janata Dal (United).

Both parties participated together in the recent elections, while the main opposition Indian Congress party joined the regional Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and several smaller parties.

The polls also saw the entry of a new political party led by Prashant Kishor, a former political consultant who in the past worked with both the BJP and the Congress.

This election was closely watched because it could be the last to feature the active participation of two regional stalwarts – JD(U)’s Nitish Kumar and RJD’s Lalu Prasad Yadav – who have shaped Bihar politics for almost four decades.

The political rivals, both in their 70s, are said to be in poor health. At times they have banded together to stay in power.

Kumar, the current chief minister of Bihar, is one of the state’s most influential leaders and has led the government for most of the last two decades.

Yadav is currently out on bail after being convicted in corruption cases. His son Tejashwi has been projected as the opposition alliance’s chief ministerial candidate.

Nearly half of voters are women, and the state, which has seen a steady increase in female voters over the years, recorded its highest female voter turnout ever at 71.6% this year.

Both alliances have offered financial assistance plans to attract women.

The election was held after a controversial voter list review carried out by the Election Commission of India a few months ago. The commission published a list of 74.2 million voters in September, eliminating 4.7 million names.

The exercise, now being carried out in 12 states and federally administered territories across India, was heavily criticized by the opposition.

They accused the commission of eliminating many voters, especially Muslims, to help Modi’s party. Both the BJP and the Election Commission have denied such allegations.

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