In a blow to the Congress, Luv Sinha, the party's candidate from the Bankipur seat is trailing his BJP opponent as the votes for the Bihar Assembly election are counted. The son of actor and politician Shatrughan Sinha, the Congress candidate had been considered a heavyweight leader, through which the party hopes to make inroads into the BJP stronghold and a section of the BJP support base.
As of 12:15 pm, Sinha has garnered 21.96% of the total votes counted. He is trailing far behind BJP leader Nitin Nabin who has garnered a whopping 68.85% of the votes. The total number of votes tallied thus far stands at 6667.
The Bankipore assembly constituency is considered to be a high-profile area with residences of the doctors, lawyers, professors and leading traders and businessmen. While his parents, Shatrughan and Poonam campaigned for Luv, his sister Sonakshi Sinha had not come to canvass support for her brother.
The 37-year-old Congress candidate is contesting against 21 other individuals including Plurals Party chief and London School of Economics MA Pushpam Priya Chaudhry and three-term BJP MLA Nitin Navin.
In related news, the NDA is now leading on 127 seats, while the Mahagathbandhan is ahead on 100 seats. As per the most recent update released by the Election Commission of India, the BJP is leading on 73 while the JD(U) is leading on 47 seats. The Vikassheel Insaan Party has maintained a lead in seven seats.
In contrast, the RJD is ahead on 61 seats and the Congress is leading on 20 while the Left maintains a lead in 19 seats.
The BSP is leading on one seat, while the AIMIM leads on three, the LJP on five and independents on seven seats.