TV channels' vote count leads confusion

Two hours into counting of votes on Bihar, different TV channels showed different leads of the vote count in Bihar on Sunday, triggering confusion.

There was also confusion with the spokespersons of the BJP as well as the JDU claiming victory.

Times Now showed NDA in the lead with 82 seats, while the Grand Alliance was shown leading with 64 seats and other parties in three.

However, CNN-IBN showed the JDU had crossed the halfway mark while the BJP was ahead in 92 seats.

A trend by India Today TV showed NDA leading with 89 seats, the Grand Alliance with 66 and other parties with three seats.

NDA was also seen leading according to News X channel, with 96 seats, the Grand Alliance with 92 and others with five seats. 

Online news websites too showed



different leads of the political parties.

BJP leaders ordered a huge quantity of sweets, saying they were sure of a victory. In no time, the atmosphere became sombre in the BJP office here.

BJP candidates were leading in 74 seats, former chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi's Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) in four, the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) of Ramvilas Paswan in nine and the Rashtriya Lok Sama Party (RLSP) in five seats each.

In the Grand Alliance, the JD-U was ahead in 64 seats, the RJD in 55 and the Congress in 12 seats. The RJD and the JD-U fielded 101 candidates each and the Congress 41.

The BJP contested 160 seats and its allies the LJP 40, the RLSP 23 and the HAM 20 seats.

The bitterly contested five-phase electoral battle began on October 12 and ended on November 5.