Bihar exit polls predict dead heat

Two forecast majority for grand alliance and one for the NDA.

MADHUBANI, BIHAR :05/11/2015: Voters wait for their turn to cast their votes at a booth in Bisfi Assembly constituency in Madhubani district during fifth phase of Bihar Assembly elections, on 05/11/2015.Photo by: Ranjeet Kumar -

Exit polls released on Thursday after the last round of the Bihar polls predicted a tough contest in the State.

While two polls — one by CNX and the other by AC Nielsen — predicted a majority for the JD(U)-RJD grand alliance with 132 and 130 seats respectively, two others — the C-Voter and News Nation polls — saw the alliance exactly at the majority mark of 122.

In the last of these, the NDA was very close behind at 117. The Chanakya poll, however, predicted a comfortable win for the BJP-led NDA with 155 out of 243 seats.

The Cicero poll showed the NDA three seats ahead of the grand alliance with 120 seats, without a majority for anyone.

CNX gave the NDA its lowest tally of 93 while Chanakya gave the grand alliance the lowest tally of 83.

With no clear trends coming out as a whole, the exit polls only ended up increasing the suspense around the high-profile polls. The counting will take place on Sunday.

An NDA win will reinforce Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s position and strengthen his hands in the coming winter session of Parliament, where the Opposition is likely to take up the issue of “intolerance” in a big way, propelled by nationwide protests from intellectuals.