Bihar polls: Nitish Kumar or Tejashwi Yadav?

The third and final phase of elections to the Bihar Assembly was by and large peaceful with the Election Commission of India ECI registering 5406 per cent polling in 78 constituencies in 15 districts till 5 pm on SaturdayMuslimdominated Kishanganj witnessed 5977 per cent polling Supaul 5790 Saharsa 5573 and Purnea 5563 Other districts like East Champaran has registered polling percentage of 5478 Sitamarhi 5227 Araria 5090 Madhepura 5403 Muzaffarpur 5454 Darbhanga 5503 Samastipur 5276 and Vaishali 4997 till 5 pmEarlier in the day Beni Singh the younger brother of RJD supporter Bittu Singh was gunned down in Damdaha Assembly constituency in Purnea district by unidentified assailants police said Singh was moving from booth to booth in the constituency As he came out of a polling booth in Sarsi village three to four assailants fired at him indiscriminately killing him on the spotMeanwhile an aggregate of opinion polls said that the Opposition coalition in Bihar led by Tejashwi Yadav will win 124 seats just past the majority mark and incumbent Chief Minister Nitish Kumars National Democratic Alliance will win 110Times NowC Voter gives 116 to the NDA and a slight lead for the Opposition Mahagathbandhan at 120 It says Chirag Paswans Lok Janshakti Party LJP will win one seat Republic TVJan Ki Baat gave 118 to 138 seats to the Opposition alliance and 91117 seats to the ruling NDA Chirag Paswans party is likely to win five to eight seats it says Chanakya Exit Poll has predicted that NDA will secure 34 per cent vote share while the Opposition alliance is likely to win 44 per cent votesThe Bihar results will be announced on Tuesday November 10 Any party or coalition needs 122 for a majority in the 243seat Bihar assembly If these polls are any indication it means that antiincumbency may be a big challenge to Chief Minister Nitish Kumars bid for a fourth straight term His campaign was marked by public displays of anger besides heckling the fivetime Chief Minister faced an onion attack in one of his ralliesDiscontent over jobs the migrant crisis the handling of the Coronavirus and floods could be the undoing of the Chief Minister who prided himself as Susashan BabuThe polls indicate a tectonic shift from the national election just last year when the NDA won 39 of Bihars 40 Lok Sabha seats decimating the Opposition and sending Tejashwi Yadavmdashwho took charge of the RJD while his father Lalu Yadav served a jail sentencemdashinto temporary selfexileBut in this campaign Tejashwi Yadav 31 emerged as the crowdpuller drawing huge cheers at every rally with his promise of signing off on 10 lakh government jobs at his very first cabinet meeting In other news a Presiding Officer posted at a polling centre in Muzaffarpur districts Katra Block died due to heart attack54Percentage of polling registered in 15 districts92 turnout in Manipur bypollsOver 92 per cent of the 133136strong electorate had cast their votes in bypolls to the four assembly seats in Manipur on Saturday amid elaborate security and strict adherence to COVID19 protocols Manipurs Joint Electoral Officer Karam Bono Singh said that there was no major untoward incident reported till the polling ended at 5 pm Maintaining COVID19 protocols the voters joined the voting queue in many places before opening the polling stations at 7 pm Singh said on Saturday eveningKeep scrolling to read more newsCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates MidDay is now on Telegram Click here to join our channel middayinfomedialtd and stay updated with the latest newsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever