The BJP may have emerged as the single largest party, with leads in 76 seats, in counting trends in Bihar Assembly elections, it is the Tejashwi Yadav-led RJD that has walked away with the lion’s share of votes. Going by the trends, the Nitish Kumar-led NDA has crossed the halfway mark of 121 seats and is ahead in 126 seats and Mahagathbandhan is ahead in 107 seats.

The RJD, which is leading in 70 seats, has bagged 22.92 per cent of the total votes polled, followed by the BJP with 19.79 per cent, JD(U) with 15.43 per cent and the Congress with 9.32 per cent votes.

The RJD is also the only party that has improved upon its 2015 vote share of 18.4 per cent. All other parties have registered a dip in the share. In 2015, The BJP had 24.4 per cent share, JD(U) 16.8 per cent and the Congress 6.7 per cent.

The Nitish Kumar-led JD(U) that has headed the government in the state for the past 15 years, has been relegated to the third spot in terms of the number of seats, behind the BJP and the RJD. With this the Bihar party has also ceded the senior party space to the saffron party.

The final picture will be known later tonight as the counting is still on, nine hours after it started. The EC has said that the counting may take longer than usual given the precautions in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic.