Patna, 13 Nov

People of Bihar wait with bated breath for Friday's counting of votes polled in the recent assembly elections, which will decide whether JD(U) supremo Nitish Kumar, the state's longest-serving chief minister, will get a record fifth term or whether a change in government will be witnessed.

Bihar registered a historic voter turnout of 67.13 per cent in the elections to the 243-member assembly in two phases on 6 and 11 November.

Counting of votes will begin at 8am, and the trends and results are likely to start trickling in by 9am. A total of 46 counting centres have been enumerated by the Election Commission across 38 districts in the state.

A total of 7.45 crore voters were eligible to decide the electoral fate of 2,616 candidates.

According to a statement issued by the EC on Wednesday, EVMs and VVPATs used in the elections have been sealed inside the strong rooms under a double-lock system.

"Under the presence of central observers and agents deputed by candidates, the entire process will be videographed," the statement said.

Two-tier security has been ensured at the counting centres.

"While the inner tier has been assigned to central armed paramilitary forces (CAPFs), state police have been deployed at the outer rung. Also, 24/7 CCTV surveillance and other security provisions have been put in place," the statement said.

A control room has been established within every strong room campus, staffed by senior district officials. All district election officers and returning officers of the concerned assembly constituencies have been directed to frequently inspect the strongrooms.

Exit polls have been nearly unanimous in predicting a clean sweep for the NDA, of which the JD(U) is a part, much to the annoyance of the opposition INDIA bloc. Tejashwi Yadav, the young RJD leader whom the opposition coalition has named its chief ministerial candidate, rubbished these predictions and claimed Mahagathbandhan would form the government with a thumping majority.

The NDA in Bihar comprises five parties, though a bulk of seats, in the 243-strong assembly, were contested by JD(U) and BJP, both of which fielded candidates in 101 constituencies each. The INDIA bloc includes RJD, Congress, CPI(ML) Liberation, other Left parties, and Vikasheel Insaan Party (VIP).

Prominent candidates of both alliances who are in the fray include Deputy Chief Ministers Samart Choudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha, RJD's Tejashwi Yadav, JJD's Tej Pratap and Bihar Congress president Rajesh Kumar.