Bihar polls: Victory of tolerance, says Mamata

Congratulating Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee termed the results of Bihar elections as defeat of “intolerance”.

“Congratulations @NitishKumar ji, Lalu ji & your full team. And all my Bihar brothers & sisters. Victory of tolerance, defeat of intolerance,” Mamata wrote on Twitter.

Ahead of the third phase of the elections in Bihar, she had also appealed to voters to support Nitish Kumar and re-elect him as Chief Minister.

“Request you all in Bihar to please vote to re-elect Nitish Kumar ji as CM for greater need of our country & development in State,” Mamata had tweeted. Putting up a stunning show, the JD(U)-led grand alliance was on Sunday well on the road to gaining a thumping majority in the Bihar assembly and was set to defeat the BJP-led NDA convincingly.

As per the trends available in the counting of votes for 220 out of a total of 243 seats, the Chief Minister Nitish Kumar-led Grand Alliance is ahead in 142 of them. A party or a formation needs 122 seats to get a simple majority in Bihar Assembly.

Nitish Kumar's JD-U is ahead in 61 while its ally RJD, led by Lalu Prasad, is leading in 68 seats. The other partner, Congress, is ahead in 13 seats.