JD-U, BJP take early lead in Bihar

PATNA - Bihar’s ruling Janata Dal-United (JD-U) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Wednesday took early leads as millions of votes polled in staggered assembly elections were counted.

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s JD-U and its ally the BJP were ahead in 21 of 30 constituencies while Lalu Prasad’s Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) of Ramvilas Paswan were a distant second.

Among those cruising to victory was RJD’s Rabri Devi, wife of Lalu Prasad and a former chief minister. The Congress, which had only nine seats in the outgoing assembly, was ahead in two places.

More than half of Bihar’s over 55 million voters voted between Oct 21 and Nov 20 to pick a new 243-member assembly.

Exit polls have predicted a clear win for the JD-U-BJP alliance, which took office in 2005.