With the major political parties releasing their manifestos, ground for the fierce political battle is alll set in Bihar.
Voting for Bihar assembly elections will be held in three phases on October 28, November 3 and November 7 in one of the biggest elections globally during the COVID-19 pandemic, followed by counting of votes on November 10.
Meanwhile, several opinion polls for the upcoming assembly election in the state are also out. Here is the list of those voter surveys and their findings:
The poll projections carried out by the Lokniti Programme for Comparative Democracy (Lokniti-CSDS) in association with Hindi news channel Aaj Tak, a programme by the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS). It had put the numbers as follows:
NDA: 133-143
Mahagathbandhan: 88-98
LJP: 2-6
Others: 6-10
With the major political parties releasing their manifestos, ground for the fierce political battle is alll set in Bihar.
Voting for Bihar assembly elections will be held in three phases on October 28, November 3 and November 7 in one of the biggest elections globally during the COVID-19 pandemic, followed by counting of votes on November 10.
Meanwhile, several opinion polls for the upcoming assembly election in the state are also out. Here is the list of those voter surveys and their findings:
The poll projections carried out by the Lokniti Programme for Comparative Democracy (Lokniti-CSDS) in association with Hindi news channel Aaj Tak, a programme by the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS). It had put the numbers as follows:
NDA: 133-143
Mahagathbandhan: 88-98
LJP: 2-6
Others: 6-10
Coming to the favourites among the potential chief ministerial candidates, it seems like Nitish Kumar remains the top contender despite the mounting anti-incumbency factor.
Almost 31% of the pre-poll survey voters chose Nitish as the next chief minister of Bihar, while 27% of voters opted for Tejashwi Yadav.
Only 5% of the voters opted for the Lok Janashakti Party (LJP)'s Chirag Paswan as the next CM candidate. Meanwhile, Lalu Prasad and incumbent deputy chief minister Sushil Modi each garnered 3% and 4% of the support, respectively.
The opinion poll conducted by the ABP-Cvoter polling agency on September 25. The ABP News-CVoter survey was conducted between 1 and 23 October, by speaking to 30,678 people across the 243 seats that are due for elections, the news portal said. It had put the numbers as follows:
NDA: 141-161
Mahagathbandhan: 64-84
Others: 13-23
As per this survey, the NDA can get 43% of vote share, the Mahagathbandhan can get 35% votes and the LJP is seen getting 4% votes and 18% in other accounts.
When people were also asked in the opinion poll about their first choice for the CM's seat, incumbent Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar was seen by 30% to be the first choice, while 20% of people want to see Tejashwi Yadav on the top post.
Pollster CVoter has published these results in collaboration with Times Now in English. Polling agency projected seat share as follows:
NDA: 160
Mahagathbandhan: 76
Others: 7
The common factor of the three opinion polls:
The assessment of all three opinion polls indicates that there is a high probability of Nitish Kumar forming a government in Bihar. However, the Grand Alliance also seems to be challenging the NDA.
After 2010, Nitish Kumar's JDU and BJP are contesting elections together. In 2013, JD (U) parted ways with the NDA after Narendra Modi's name was cleared for the post of Prime Minister and then contested in 2015 with RJD.
The BJP is contesting on 121 of the total 243 seats in Bihar and ally JD(U) on 122 seats, consisting the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) political group.
On the other hand, the main opposition political group, the Mahagathbandan (Grand Alliance), comprising primarily the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) members RJD and Congress along with left-wing parties is also gearing up for the elections. The RJD is contesting on 144 seats, Congress 70 and the Left parties 29.
(With inputs from agencies)
