"Results in line with our expectations and feedback; NDA will win with huge margin": JD(U)'s Sanjay Jha

Patna (Bihar) [India], November 14 : As early counting trends placed the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) ahead in the electoral race in Bihar, JD(U) National Working President and MP Sanjay Kumar Jha asserted that the results were consistent with the feedback party leaders gathered during campaigning and reflected the public's continued faith in Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's leadership.
Speaking to reporters in Patna, Sanjay Jha said, "The results are in line with our expectations and the feedback we were getting. I think NDA will win with a huge margin."
Criticising the Mahagathbandhan for "premature" celebrations, Jha said, "People (in Mahagathbandhan) were distributing portfolios among themselves. They were deciding the date for oath. But it is the people who decide this."
"We were on the field. Nitish ji met people on the road. The happiness on people's faces after seeing the CM and the response we were getting made us feel that the people of entire Bihar want an NDA government once again, Nitish Kumar as the CM once again," he added.
The JD(U) leader also reacted to RJD leader Sunil Singh's remarks, saying, "People are against such language (Nepal-Bangladesh statement by RJD). If someone has any grievance, they have expectations too with Nitish Kumar - that only he can do something."
Sunil Singh had issued a strong warning to election officials, cautioning against any attempt to manipulate the people's mandate, otherwise "the same scenes witnessed on the roads in Nepal, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka will be seen on the roads of Bihar. They (Mahagathbandhan) are saying things out of frustration."
Taking a dig at Congress MP Rahul Gandhi's 'Voter Adhikar Yatra', Jha termed it as a "false narrative" and stated, "They had taken out a Vote Chori Yatra. But they did say even a word on Vote Chori during campaiging? It was a false narrative and people understood it."
In response to RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav's press conference, the JD(U) working president said, "The language he is speaking - zabardasti jaa ke baith jaenge. It doesn't happen that way in democracy. Do some self-introspection on where you are lacking, that's why you are in this condition. Despite being the CM for 20 years, Nitish Kumar's popualrity continues to rise."
On Thursday, Tejashwi Yadav said that his party-led Mahagathbandhan alliance is poised to form the next government in Bihar with a "clear majority," dismissing exit polls that have predicted the NDA's victory. He had warned the officials that if the administration "acts on anyone's orders", then the public will take care of it.
Meanwhile, as counting of votes for the Bihar Assembly elections in underway, the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has crossed the halfway mark of 122, as per ECI.
At 10:00 am, NDA was leading at 159 seats, with the Bharatiya Janata Party's lead on 69 seats and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar-led Janata Dal (United) ahead in 67 constituencies. Chirag Paswan's LJP(RV) was leading on 14 seats, with a conversion rate of 53 per cent.
JD(U) has maintained a high conversion rate of 70 per cent, with the BJP at a 67 per cent conversion rate.
Mahagathbandhan was trailing behind, with a lead of just 76 seats. While Tejashwi Yadav's Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) was leading on 51 seats, maintaining a conversion rate of 38 per cent. RJD's allies showed an underwhelming performance as per the early trends. Congress was leading on 17 seats while Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation is leading on five seats, with a decent conversion rate of 30 per cent.
Prashant Kishor's Jan Suraaj Party was leading on two seats, and AIMIM was ahead on just one seat.
Among prominent faces, Tejashwi Yadav is leading on the Raghopur seat, BJP's Samrat Choudhary and Maithili Thakur are ahead on the Tarapur and Alinagar seats, respectively.
Deputy CM Vijay Kumar Sinha was trailing on the Lakhisarai seat, BJP's Mangal Pandey was trailing in Siwan, while JD(U)'s Sunil Kumar was leading in Bhorey.
Counting of votes for all 243 constituencies began at 8 am amid tight security. Officials began tallying postal ballots, with the counting of EVM votes scheduled to start at 8:30 am.