Bihar election results 2024: Written off, Nitish Kumar surprises all and equals BJP's dozen

PATNA: Bihar CM Nitish Kumar-led JD(U) and BJP registered victories in 12 seats each as NDA won 30 of 40 Lok Sabha constituencies in Bihar, while the opposition INDIA bloc had to be content with nine and an independent won one to wrap up the count on Tuesday.
Among the other NDA partners, Chirag Paswan-led LJP (RV) took five, winning all the seats it contested, while former CM Jitan Ram Manjhi-led HAMS secured victory in one.
NDA lost nine seats compared to 2019, when the alliance steamrolled the opposition to win 39 seats, with Congress winning only Kishanganj. However, BJP had been relatively consistent in the state. The party had won 22 seats in 2014 and all the 17 it contested in 2019.
Among INDIA bloc allies, RJD won four seats, Congress three and CPI-ML (Liberation) two, while Pappu Yadav won in Purnea as an independent. The opposition alliance gained eight seats. This year, Congress added Katihar and Sasaram to its kitty, while retaining Kishanganj.
Union ministers Giriraj Singh and Nityanand Rai retained Begusarai and Ujiyarpur seats, respectively, but their central colleague and power minister RK Singh lost his traditional Ara seat to CPI-ML (Liberation)'s Sudama Prasad by around 60,000 votes.
Former CM Manjhi, who heads Hindustani Awam Morcha-Secular, succeeded in making his parliamentary debut at the age of 79, registering victory from the reserved seat of Gaya. However, NDA partner Upendra Kushwaha, a former Union minister who heads Rashtriya Lok Morcha, faced a humiliating defeat in Karakat.
LJP (RV) candidate Shambhavi, 25, won by a margin of more than 1.87 lakh votes. During his campaign in Bihar, Modi hailed Shambhavi as the "youngest candidate" in this year's LS polls.
At least four sitting MLAs - Manjhi (Imamganj), Surendra Yadav (Belaganj), Sudama Prasad (Tarari) and Sudhakar Singh (Ramgarh, Kaimur) - as well as one sitting RS member Misa Bharti has won. This will lead to bypolls to four assembly seats and one RS seat.