New Delhi, Nov 14 (IANS) As counting for the Bihar polls is underway and the Congress is heading towards a humiliating defeat leading on only four seats, party leaders on Friday said that this is not a victory for the NDA but for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) and the Election Commission of India (ECI). Speaking to IANS, Congress leader Udit Raj said, “This is not a victory for the NDA, but for SIR and the Election Commission. Votes were stolen. In Bihar, we raised objections till the end, but the Election Commission did not provide anything in writing. In such a scenario, the results were bound to turn out this way.”

Congress MP Tariq Anwar said, “As I mentioned earlier, we will evaluate all aspects. When one analyses deeply, all factors are considered — where the shortcomings were and why we lagged in the elections. Keeping those factors in mind, we will try to improve going forward. Right now, the fourth, fifth, and sixth rounds are still ongoing, and counting will continue up to the twentieth round. So, the trends will keep changing.”

Congress MP Manoj Kumar said, “It means that the truth has to be accepted. Whatever the people of Bihar decide, we accept it. If the people of Bihar have chosen for the NDA government to be formed again, we have no objection to accepting that. I want to say that just as we worked hard during the elections, the people of the INDIA Bloc also worked hard. We received the love, affection, and respect of the people of Bihar. People of all castes and religions respected and honoured us. For that respect, I sincerely thank all the people of Bihar once again.”

Another Congress leader, Rashid Alvi, said, “I had already predicted this. I had told journalists earlier that the NDA would form the government. When the BJP, JD(U), bureaucracy, RSS, unlimited money power, and the Election Commission come together to fight an election, this is the result you get.” Meanwhile, the BJP on Friday escalated its attack on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi as the National Democratic Alliance appeared headed for a decisive victory in the Bihar Assembly election. 

The mockery was amplified by BJP IT cell head Amit Malviya, who posted a graphic listing elections from 2004 to 2025 in which the Congress under Rahul Gandhi either lost state power or failed to make electoral gains. “Rahul Gandhi! Another election, another defeat! If there were awards for electoral consistency, he’d sweep them all. At this rate, even setbacks must be wondering how he finds them so reliably,” Malviya wrote.

The ruling NDA is heading for a landslide victory in the Bihar Assembly elections, with the latest trends showing the alliance crossing the 200-seat mark as of 1.30 p.m. Meanwhile, according to the early trends of the Election Commission of India (ECI) at 1.55 p.m., the BJP is emerging as the single largest party with a lead in 91 seats, while the JD(U) stood second with 79 seats. The alliance partners -- the LJP(RV) is leading in 22 seats, Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM) at four and the HAMS also at four. The Mahagathbandhan is currently at 36.

The counting process for all 243 Assembly seats commenced at 8 a.m., beginning with the scrutiny of postal ballots. This was followed by the counting of Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) votes from 8.30 a.m., taking place under extensive multi-tier security arrangements across the state. Candidates from both alliances expressed confidence in their performance. Leaders from the NDA asserted that the people of Bihar had reposed faith in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's guarantees and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's work toward the state's development. The Mahagathbandhan, led by the RJD, claimed that Bihar had "voted for change" and expressed optimism that Tejashwi Yadav would form the next government. The election witnessed participation from more than 70 crore voters who cast their ballots to decide the fate of both the ruling NDA and the Mahagathbandhan. The polling was held in two phases, on November 6 and 11.