Bihar exit poll: Times Now-CVoter says Tejashwi ahead of Nitish Kumar in race to power

Bihar Exit Polls 2020: Times Now-CVoter polls give the Grand Alliance an edge over the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in Bihar. However, no formation is attaining clear majority in the polls, according to the projections.

The Times Now-C Voter exit poll has projected that the RJD-led Grand Alliance could be within striking distance of pipping the Nitish Kumar-led NDA to the winning post by a narrow margin. The exit poll doesn’t give the Tejashwi Yadav-led alliance a clear majority in the 243-member house, but if its projection of 120 seats for the GA against NDA’s 116 seats comes true, it would only need to win the support of two MLAs from outside the alliance to reach the half-way mark of 122 seats.

RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav could end Nitish Kumar’s long stint in power according to Times Now-CVoter exit polls.(HT Photo)

The projections, if they match the poll outcome on November 10 when the votes are counted, would be a big setback for the Nitish Kumar-led ruling combine which had hoped to sail through the elections faced by a relatively inexperienced opposition leadership.

The exit poll trends have been released on the last day of the three-phased assembly elections in Bihar.

Exit polls have often proved to be way off the mark in the past including in the 2015 Bihar assembly elections when only one pollster got the outcome right. Exit polls are conducted by interviewing the voters after they have cast their votes and are limited by a narrow sample size and unreliability of responses received.

 

CHANNEL/AGENCY	JDU+	RJD+	LJP	Others
India Today-Axis My India	0	0	0	0
Times Now-CVoter	116	120	1	6
NewsX-Dvresearch	0	0	0	0
News 18-Today’s Chanakya	0	0	0	0

The opposition alliance is led by the RJD, which is contesting on 144 seats; followed by the Congress on 70 seats and CPI(ML) on 19. In the NDA camp, the JD(U) is contesting on 115 seats and BJP on 110. The polling came to an end on Saturday evening with over 55% votes polled for the 78 seats of the 243 member assembly that voted in the third phase.

In the first and the second phase on October 28 and November 3 respectively, 71 and 94 constituencies had gone to polls. On Saturday, people in the remaining 78 constituencies voted.

JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar, who has already spent over 14 years as chief minister, was seeking another shot at the state’s chief minister. This is said to be one of his toughest electoral challenges given the relentless attacks not only from the opposition but also erstwhile ally and former NDA constituent, the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP).

He had rejected suggestions that he faced an anti-incumbency factor and addressed over 110 election meetings. At his last rally in Purnea, he had announced that this would be his last election. As the opposition latched on to this statement, claiming that Nitish Kumar had run out of steam, the JD (U) rushed to clarify that he did not mean that he would exit politics but that he was addressing his last election meeting for the 2020 Bihar elections.