Exit polls give grand alliance an edge in Bihar Assembly polls

The exit polls on Saturday predicted an edge for Mahagathbandhan (grand alliance), which has RJD, Congress and three other parties as its constituents.

The Times Now C-Voter survey, released minutes after polling ended in the third and final phase of Bihar Assembly election, showed that NDA will win 116 of the 243 seats, and the grand alliance will win 120. Interestingly, the BJP is expected to win 70 seats whereas its partner in the NDA the JD(U) 40, according to Times Now C-Voter survey.

The RJD could win 85 seats, whereas the Congress 25, it further predicted.

#Nov10WithTimesNow | POLL OF POLLS by different agencies for 2020 Bihar Assembly polls. pic.twitter.com/03PSQ2KfYT

— TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) November 7, 2020

The survey also showed preference of the voters in Bihar. It said that urban voters chose NDA over grand alliance, whereas the trend was reverse in rural areas. While the voting pattern of men was almost equal between NDA and grand alliance, women preferred Lalu's party, according to the Times Now survey.

Others like Today's Chanakya gave a landslide to Mahagathbandhan, predicting 180 out of 243 seats for RJD and Congress-led allinace. The NDA, according to the survey, is expected to win 55 seats, it said.

According to Today's Chanakya survey, 37 per cent of the respondents rated chief minister Nitish Kumar's perfirmance as "poor". Twenty nine per cent of those Today's Chanakya team spoke to said Kumar's working was “average”. 

In the last Bihar assembly polls in 2015, the JD(U) was with the grand alliance. This year, the JD(U) is with the BJP.

The elections in Bihar were held in three phases, and voting in the final phase concluded today. The results are expected to come out on November 10.