Patna, March 16 The ruling NDA in Bihar appeared set for an easy victory in the biennial elections for five Rajya Sabha seats, with its candidates including Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and BJP national president Nitin Nabin.
Although the counting of votes was expected to take place later in the evening, sources in the NDA claimed that "all 202 MLAs" belonging to the alliance had participated in the polling.
These included Kumar's JD(U), Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) led by Union minister Chirag Paswan, Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) headed by Jitan Ram Manjhi, and the Rashtriya Lok Morcha of Upendra Kushwaha, who is one of the five candidates.
On the other hand, the opposition Mahagathbandhan appeared to be struggling, with three MLAs from the Congress and one from the RJD remaining absent from the polling on a day when even parties not aligned with the coalition, such as AIMIM and BSP, were present.
The AIMIM, which has five MLAs in the Assembly, and the lone BSP legislator claimed to have voted in favor of RJD candidate Amarendra Dhari Singh.
Sources said that if the absent MLAs had been present, their support might have helped the opposition secure one of the seats.
According to the formula for Rajya Sabha elections in Bihar, each candidate would have needed at least 41 votes to win, had all 243 MLAs turned up to participate in the polling.