While Modi–Nitish steal headlines, Chirag Paswan’s LJPRV quietly pulls off a massive Bihar breakthrough

As per the Election Commission of India (ECI) data, LJP (Ram Vilas) is leading in 21 out of 29 seats it had contested.

The result is a massive gain for Chirag whose party could win only one seat in the last assembly elections.

The ruling NDA in Bihar looked set for a landslide victory in early counting on Friday, with the alliance nearing the 200-mark mark driven by strong performances by both the Janata Dal (United) and the BJP.

Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) posted a remarkable upswing, emerging as the single-largest party in the first several rounds of counting.

The party was leading in a majority of the seats it contested, while ally BJP also secured strong leads across multiple constituencies — positioning the NDA firmly ahead of the opposition.

By mid-morning, trend trackers across major networks showed the NDA tally moving past the 180–190 seat range, placing the coalition on course to form the next government if these numbers hold.

Election analysts, however, cautioned that several rounds of counting remained and fluctuations were still possible as postal ballots and EVM rounds continued.

The opposition Mahagathbandhan is leading in less than 50 seats as the tally of seats had a freefall.