Vote counting under way in state where Modi’s party faces key test

Votes are being counted in the eastern Indian state of Bihar, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) hopes to return to power along with its alliance partner.

The Election Commission of India (EC) said the elections were held in two phases on November 6 and 11 and the state witnessed a record voter turnout of 66.91%. This is the highest rate since Bihar’s first elections in 1951.

While such polls have been inaccurate in the past, some exit polls predict a victory for the BJP alliance.

The election was held following a controversial revision of the voter rolls, which the opposition claimed would exclude genuine voters and give an advantage to Modi’s party; Both the BJP and the AK deny this accusation.

The counting of votes began at 08:00 local time (02:30 GMT) on Friday.

The trends are expected to become clear at noon local time, but the counting will not be finished until the evening.

The Bihar elections are a precursor to several other key state elections next year in West Bengal, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, where the BJP is out of power and struggling to make headway.

Bihar is India’s poorest state, with over 74 million voters, and millions migrate to other parts of India in search of work. It is also one of the few states in India where Modi’s party has not yet managed to form a government on its own.

The outgoing government is an alliance between the BJP and Janata Dal (United).

While both parties contested the last elections together, India’s main opposition Congress party formed an alliance with the regional Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and several smaller parties.

The polls also witnessed 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.

This election is being watched closely as it could be the last one to see the active participation of two regional powerhouses who have shaped Bihar’s politics for almost four decades – Nitish Kumar of JD(U) and Lalu Prasad Yadav of RJD.

The political rivals, both in their 70s, are said to be in poor health. They joined hands from time to time to stay in power.

Kumar, the incumbent chief minister of Bihar, is one of the state’s most influential leaders and has led the government for most of the last two decades.

Yadav is currently out on bail after being convicted in corruption cases. His son Tejashwi is projected to be the prime ministerial candidate of the opposition alliance.

Almost half of the voters are women, and the state, which has seen a steady increase in the number of female voters over the years, recorded the highest female voter turnout in history with 71.6 percent this year.

Both alliances offered financial assistance programs to attract women.

The election was held following the controversial voter list revision carried out by the Election Commission of India a few months ago. In September, the commission sorted 4.7 million names and published a list of 74.2 million voters.

The exercise, currently taking place in 12 states and federally administered territories across India, has been harshly criticized by the opposition.

They accused the commission of losing many voters, especially Muslims, to help Modi’s party. Both the BJP and the Election Commission have rejected such allegations.

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