Bihar Deputy Chief Ministers and senior BJP leaders Vijay Kumar Sinha and Samrat Choudhary have taken commanding leads in their respective constituencies, as early counting trends signalled a decisive advantage for the NDA on Friday.

According to Election Commission of India (ECI) trends around noon, Samrat Choudhary was leading by more than 28,000 votes in the Tarapur Assembly seat, with RJD candidate Arun Kumar trailing behind.

In Lakhisarai, Vijay Kumar Sinha, who was initially trailing, made a strong comeback and is now ahead by over 20,000 votes, leaving Congress’ Amaresh Kumar behind by more than 5,300 votes.

Early trends also indicate the BJP emerging as the single largest party, leading in 85 of the 243 Assembly seats, followed by its NDA ally, the JD(U), which is ahead in 77 constituencies.

The numbers witnessed swift changes through the morning. At 11 a.m., JD(U) held the edge with leads in 83 seats, compared to BJP’s 78. Within the next hour, the BJP overtook its ally, as both parties vied for the top position while maintaining a strong overall lead for the NDA.

By noon, the NDA was leading in 188 seats, while the Mahagathbandhan trailed significantly with 47 seats.

The counting process began at 8 a.m., starting with postal ballots followed by the opening of EVMs at 8:30 a.m. Security was tightened across all counting centres, with multi-tier arrangements in place.

Candidates from both alliances expressed confidence in their respective performances. NDA leaders credited the surge to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s guarantees and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s development agenda, while the Mahagathbandhan maintained that Bihar had “voted for change,” expressing hope that Tejashwi Yadav could still turn the tide.

The Election Commission has deployed 243 Returning Officers and an equal number of Counting Observers across the state. Over 18,000 counting agents are monitoring the process on behalf of candidates.

Strict entry protocols have been enforced at all counting centres, where mobile phone use is completely prohibited.

The state went to polls in two phases on November 6 and 11, deciding the political fate of both the ruling NDA and the opposition Mahagathbandhan.

In the outgoing Assembly, the NDA held 131 seats, including BJP’s 80 and JD(U)’s 45, while the opposition bloc controlled 111 seats, led by the RJD with 77.