NDA To Win Bihar Elections, Nitish For CM: Survey; Challenges For NDA & UPA

New Delhi: A survey conducted by IANS C-Voter Bihar opinion poll has predicted a swooping victory for National Democratic Alliance (NDA) alliance in the upcoming Assembly elections to be held in three phases from October 28.

The incumbent Chief Minister, Nitish Kumar, is the CM’s choice for 30.9 per cent of the surveyed people. Opposition leader Tejashwi Yadav of Rashtriya Janta Dal (RJD) polled in 15.4 per cent as the preferred CM candidate.

In the 243-seat Bihar Assembly, NDA is likely to win 151 seats with United Progressive Alliance (UPA) coming a distant second in the survey with 74 seats and only 18 seats for others.

In terms of vote-share, NDA and UPA will probably get 44.8 per cent and 33.4 per cent votes respectively.

Challenges for Ruling Dispensation

Amid palpable tensions between the two NDA allies- JDU and LJP, BJP will have to come up with an amicable ticket-sharing formula. Many leaders in the BJP have concurred to an anti-incumbency factor that might affect the poll results. A BJP MP has admitted to a notion of “change” among many of the party’s stalwarts and voters, reported The Indian Express. The NDA is led by BJP and JD(U) in Bihar.

Restless Opposition

While the ruling NDA faces the anti-incumbency challenge, the opposition leaders are becoming restless in the absence of lucidity on seat-sharing among the parties involved. Many leaders have claimed that there will be disadvantages to announcing candidates early. The opposition includes Congress, RJD and Left-parties.

Bihar is set to go to polls in three phases- October 28, November 3 and 7, with results on November 10. Bihar polls will be the first large-scale elections to be held amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.