Bihar vote count begins

PATNA - Millions of votes cast in Bihar’s staggered assembly elections began to be counted Wednesday, with exit polls predicting a clear win for Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

An official spokesman said the vote count began at 42 centres across the state, where more than half of the 55 million electorate voted between Oct 21 and Nov 20 to pick a new 243-member assembly.

Exit polls say Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal-United (JD-U) and its ally the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are set to win and retain power.

The JD-U-led government took office in 2005, winning 143 seats.