Tejashwi Yadav Confident of Victory as Bihar Election Counting Begins Despite Exit Poll Predictions

New Delhi:

Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav - the opposition's chief ministerial candidate - expressed confidence in victory Friday morning as counting for the Bihar election commenced. "We are going to win. Thanks to everyone. A change is about to come. We are forming the government," he stated.

Yadav, joined by his father and party founder Lalu Prasad Yadav and sister, Lok Sabha MP Misa Bharti, emerged from his Patna residence moments before counting began. Tejashwi Yadav is running from the family stronghold of Raghopur, with BJP's Satish Kumar as his primary challenger.

READ | Tejashwi Yadav Ahead In Very Early Leads In Family Bastion Raghopur

The eastern state participated in a two-phase election on November 6 and 11.

The RJD has formed alliances with the Congress, a Left front, and Mukesh Sahani's Vikassheel Insaan Party, with Sahani designated as the Mahagathbandhan's Deputy Chief Minister candidate.

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The opposition faces the ruling coalition led by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal United and the Bharatiya Janata Party, which includes union minister Chirag Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party.

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Poll strategist Prashant Kishor's Jan Suraaj makes its electoral debut.

The majority mark in the 243-seat House is 122.

The RJD is not anticipated to win this election.

READ | Exit Polls Give NDA Clear Majority In Bihar, 1 Predicts Close Contest

Thirteen exit polls analyzed by NDTV have all predicted a comfortable victory for the BJP-JDU, prompting celebratory 'Tiger Zinda Hai' posters throughout Patna honoring Nitish Kumar.

The combined projections indicate the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance will maintain power with the BJP emerging as the single-largest party, replacing the RJD's position from 2020.

According to predictions, the NDA will secure 147 seats while the opposition will obtain 90.

Jan Suraaj is expected to underperform.

Nevertheless, Yadav and the opposition insist they will defy exit poll predictions with a victory, though the RJD leader also cautioned about potential BJP manipulation of results.

READ | 'Plans To Slow Counting': Tejashwi Yadav's Big Claim Ahead Of Results

"We have received information about a strategy developed to slow down the entire counting process tomorrow, particularly in constituencies with narrow margins," he revealed.

"We appeal to all officials, especially the Election Commission, to count the votes impartially," he added, echoing concerns raised by Congress MP Rahul Gandhi in recent weeks about alleged collusion between the Election Commission and BJP to manipulate election results.

Both the EC and BJP have categorically denied these allegations.

Tejashwi Yadav's concerns follow a narrow defeat in 2020, when the Mahagathbandhan fell 12 seats short of majority, affected by losing several constituencies by margins under 1,000 votes.

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