Bihar Assembly Election Results: 5 things to know about Maithali Thakur, BJP candidate from Alinagar constituency

25-year-old Maithili Thakur, the BJP candidate from Alinagar constituency in the Bihar Assembly Elections, is leading the trends after 8 rounds of counting.

She is leading over the RJD's Binod Mishra with 6,793 votes at the time of writing.

Thakur, after meeting BJP leaders Vinod Tawde and Nityanand Rai in early October, has raised speculations of her possible entry into the poll fray in Bihar.

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Later she clarified the situation, saying, “I too have been seeing these things on TV. I recently visited Bihar and had the opportunity to meet Nityanand Rai, as well as Vinod Tawde. We had a discussion about Bihar's future. No official announcement has been made at this time. But let's see what happens. I would like to stand from my village constituency because I have an attachment to it,” as per HT.

When the BJP finally announced its candidates, it was finally revealed that Thakur was indeed contesting the polls from Alinagar.

Thakur, visibly elated with how the counting is unfolding, said in an interview with ANI on Friday, "I am very happy that people have shown trust in me. This is not just my victory. This victory is theirs too... The work that Nitish Kumar has done for women has helped me a lot in my journey. People have a lot of love for PM Modi, and they have a lot of faith in the NDA. It (Alinagar) will become Sitanagar for sure..."

Here are five things to know about her:

1. Thakur is a trained Indian classical singer, having received her initial training in music from her grandfather. Seeing her potential, her father relocated the family from Bihar to New Delhi's Dwarka for better opportunities.

2. Thakur saw her first glimpse of fame after appearing in the Zee TV programme Little Champs, and later even participated in Indian Idol Junior.

Click here for live updates of the Alinagar constituency results

3. Her first album, Ya Rabba, was launched by Universal Music after she won a singing competition in 2016 called "I Genius Young Singing Star.

4. Thakur and her brothers garnered more attention with by uploading videos of their performance on platforms like YouTube and Facebook, following which they began peforming at major events in India and abroad. The Election Commission also made them brand ambassadors of Madhubani in 2019.

5. Thakur has also received several awards over the years, including the 2021 Lokmat Sur Jytosna National Music Award, which was given to her by then Information & Broadcast Minister Anurag Thakur.

In March 2024, Prime Minister Narendra Modi awarded her the Cultural Ambassador of the Year Award. She also received the National Human Rights and Crime Control Bureau's India Pride Award in 2022.

How the poll scenario looks at 1 pm:

As per trends, the BJP is set to become the single largest party in the Bihar Assembly, with it currently leading in 90 seats. It is closely followed by the JD(U), which is leading in 80 seats. Their NDA ally, LJPRV, is also leading in 20 seats.

On the other hand, the RJD is leading in 29 seats in the states while the Congress is ahead on a mere five seats. The CPI(ML)(L) is leading in 4 seats.

Asaduddin Owaisi's AIMIM is also leading in five seats.

Prashant Kishor's Jan Suraaj Party has not been able to open its account anywhere in the state yet.