Supporters of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led alliance are celebrating as it heads for a decisive victory in the northern Indian state of Bihar.
Counting of votes began at 8:00 am local time [02:30 GMT] and although results are starting to come in, the alliance is leading in about 200 of the 243 seats.
The results could change in some seats as the counting progresses, but the opposition, which is leading in fewer than 40 seats, is unlikely to back down in the count.
The opposition has accused the polls of being held after controversial revisions to the voter list, which would have left genuine voters out and put the BJP ahead – a charge denied by both the party and the Election Commission. The polls were held on November 6 and 11 and saw a record 66.91% voter turnout – the highest since Bihar’s first elections in 1951, the commission said.
Several exit polls had predicted a victory for the BJP-led alliance, with the Janata Dal (United) or JD(U) as the main partner. The two parties currently govern the state together, with JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar the outgoing chief minister.
Their main rivals are India’s main opposition Congress, the regional Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and a coalition of several smaller parties.
The BJP and several of its top leaders welcomed the results and thanked the voters of Bihar. The opposition did not comment on the trend.
The poll also saw the entry of a new political party led by Prashant Kishor, a former political consultant who has worked with both the BJP and the Congress in the past. His Jan Suraj Dal is not leading in any seat.
The Bihar elections will serve as a precursor to several other crucial state elections next year in West Bengal, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, where the BJP is not in power and is struggling to build a foothold.
Bihar, with more than 74 million voters, is India’s poorest state, with millions migrating to other parts of the country in search of work. It is one of the few states in India where Modi’s party has yet to form a government on its own. One of the main reasons for the BJP-JD(U) alliance’s victory was the huge turnout of women voters.
Nearly half of the state’s voters are women, and Bihar – where their numbers have been steadily increasing over the years – saw a record 71.6% female voter turnout this year.
Both alliances have proposed financial assistance schemes to attract women.
Analysts say Kumar’s welfare schemes appear to have appealed to women voters.
The election comes months after India’s Election Commission revised its controversial voter list. The commission published a list of 74.2 million voters in September, excluding 4.7 million.
The exercise – which is now being held in 12 Indian states and union territories – has been heavily criticised by the opposition.
They have accused the commission of excluding many voters, especially Muslims, from the polls to help Modi’s party. The BJP and the Election Commission both deny such allegations.
The election was also closely watched as it could be the last election in which two regional leaders – Chief Minister Nitish Kumar of the JD(U) and Lalu Prasad Yadav of the RJD – will actively participate, having shaped Bihar politics for nearly four decades.
Yadav, a former chief minister of the state, is currently out on bail after being convicted in a corruption case. His son Tejashwi was announced as the opposition alliance’s chief ministerial candidate.