No dispute regarding NDA leader in Bihar: State BJP chief

With the NDA leading in 128 of the 243 seats in Bihar assembly, BJP state chief Sanjay Jaiswal said there is no dispute regarding who will lead the government if the alliance returns to power in the state.

A party or a coalition requires 122 seats to form the government in Bihar.

"The issue has been cleared by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party chief J P Nadda much before the elections," he said, while responding to a query whether chief minister Nitish Kumar will lead the NDA government if the alliance secures a majority in the assembly.

Without naming RJD leader and Grand Alliance chief ministerial candidate Tejashwi Yadav, Jaiswal took a swipe at him, saying, "People are intelligent enough to distinguish between truth and falsehood."

Earlier in the day, the JD(U) exuded confidence that the NDA will again form a government in Bihar under Kumar.

"I have been saying this for a long time that the NDA will form the government under the leadership of CM Nitish Kumar. The opposition ran a misleading campaign with several allurements to woo voters," state JD(U) chief Vashishtha Narayan Singh told reporters here.

When asked whether the BJP or the JD(U) will lead the government, Singh too said the prime minister, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Nadda have made it "amply clear" on several occasions as to who will lead the government.

The trio and other senior leaders had said on several occasions during campaigning that Nitish Kumar will lead the government if the NDA returns to power in the state.

As per trends available till 4 pm, the NDA was leading in 128 seats -- the BJP in 75, the JD(U) in 48 and the VIP in five.

The Grand Alliance, on the other hand, was leading in 101 seats -- the RJD in 63, the Congress in 21, the CPI (ML) Liberation in 12, the CPI(M) in three and the CPI in two.

The AIMIM was leading in four seats, the HAM in three, the BSP in two and the LJP in one. Independent candidates were ahead in four constituencies.