NDA confident of getting more than 160 seats in Bihar, HAM likely to bag 6: Jitan Ram Manjhi

HAM chief Jitan Ram Manjhi on Friday exuded confidence that the NDA will win more than 160 seats in the 243-member Bihar assembly polls and his party Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular), as a constituent of the ruling alliance, will bag at least six constituencies.

The ruling NDA was leading in 166 seats, surpassing the majority mark of 122, according to the Election Commission.

The opposition INDIA bloc was way behind, leading only in 59 of the 243 seats in the Bihar assembly. The tally is likely to change with several rounds of counting still left.

"Poll results show more than 160 seats for the NDA. The HAM is ahead in four to five seats as of now, and we expect at least six seats," Manjhi told reporters.

He attributed the NDA's performance in the elections to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's good governance. The credit also goes to the Election Commission for free and fair elections, he said.

The BJP was leading in 72 assembly seats, its ally JD(U) in 71, the LJP(RV) in 18, the HAM (S) in four, and the RLM was ahead in one seat after the first few rounds of counting.

In the opposition bloc, the RJD was leading in 43 seats, the Congress in eight, the CPI (ML) Liberation in six, and the CPI and CPI(M) in one seat each.

The Prashant Kishor-led Jan Suraaj Party and the Mukesh Sahani-helmed VIP are trailing in all the seats they have contested.