The counting for all the 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar is scheduled to take place on May 23 (Thursday). A total of 625 candidates are in the fray from Bihar. Voting in Bihar took place in all the seven phases.
The key contest is between the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and Rashtriya Janata Dal-Congress-led Mahagathbandhan. The NDA is made up of BJP, Janata Dal (United) and Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), while the Mahagathbandhan is made up of RJD, Congress, Hindustani Awami Morcha, Rashtriya Lok Samta Party and Vikassheel Insaan Party.
The 40 parliamentary constituencies in Bihar are Valmiki Nagar, Paschim Champaran, Purvi Champaran, Sheohar, Sitamarhi, Madhubani, Jhanjharpur, Supaul, Araria, Kishanganj, Katihar, Purnia, Madhepura, Darbhanga, Muzaffarpur, Vaishali, Gopalganj (SC), Siwan, Maharajganj, Saran, Hajipur (SC), Ujiarpur, Samastipur (SC), Begusarai, Khagaria, Bhagalpur, Banka, Munger, Nalanda, Patna Sahib, Pataliputra, Arrah, Buxar, Sasaram (SC), Karakat, Jahanabad, Aurangabad, Gaya (SC), Nawada and Jamui (SC).
Key contests
All eyes will be on Patna Sahib, where two-time MP Shatrughan Sinha is pitted against senior BJP leader and Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad. This time Sinha, who won in 2009 and 2014 Lok Sabha elections as a BJP candidate, is contesting on a Congress ticket. Another key contest is between BJP’s Ram Kripal Yadav and RJD’s Misa Bharti, RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav’s daughter in Pataliputra. In 2014, Yadav had defeated Misa by 40,000 votes.
In another keenly watched contest, former Lok Sabha speaker and Congress leader Meira Kumar is pitted against BJP’s Chhedi Paswan in Sasaram. In Begusarai, Union Minister Giriraj Singh (BJP) is being challenged by RJD’s Tanveer Hassan and CPI's Kanhaiya Kumar. In 2014, Giriraj had won from Nawada.
The state recorded 53.06% turnout in first phase, 58.14% in second phase, 60% in third phase, 58.92% in fourth phase, 57.86% in fifth phase, 59.38% is sixth phase and 53.55% in seventh phase. The polling was peaceful with no recorded incidence of violence during voting. In 2014, the BJP had won 22 seats in Bihar and its then allies LJP and RLSP had won 6 and 4 seats respectively. Congress had won just two seats, while RJD and JD(U) had won four and two seats respectively. But this time, JD(U) has contested in alliance with BJP and RLSP has left the NDA to join the grand alliance.
Exit polls predictions for Bihar
All exit polls have predicted a comfortable win for BJP-led NDA in Lok Sabha election 2019 from Bihar. According to the India Today-My Axis India exit poll, the BJP-JDU alliance is set to sweep the Lok Sabha elections in Bihar winning minimum 38 out of the 40 seats, while the RJD-Congress led 'Mahagathbandhan' may only win 2 seats. According to IANS-CVOTER exit poll, the NDA may win 33 seats, while the grand alliance is predicted to win only 7 seats. IndiaTV-CNX Exit Poll predicted that BJP will get 15, JD (U) -13, LJP-4 while RJD is expected to win 5, Congress 2 and Rashtriya Lok Samta Party 1 seat. Exit poll conducted by Neta-NewsX, predicted that BJP may win 9 seats, JD(U) 9 seats, while the Congress and RJD would get 5 and 11 seats respectively. The Times Now-VMR poll predicted that BJP and JDU would win 30 seats, while UPA is expected to gain 10 seats.
Voting in the seven-phase Lok Sabha election started on April 11 and concluded on May 19.
