With NDA leading, Congress leader claims Biharis 'lured' by free vaccine; BJP hits back

As the Mahagathbandhan continues to trail in Bihar Assembly Elections, Congress leader Archana Dalmia appears to have conceded defeat with a cryptic tweet. Taking to Twitter, Dalmia stated that it seems that the poor Bihari has 'fallen into the trap' of the free vaccine. The Congress leader's tweet was in reference to BJP's poll promise of providing free COVID-19 vaccine to the people of Bihar if elected to power. 

Dalmia's tweet comes as the BJP and JD(U)-led NDA has gained lead in 118 seats while the Mahagathbandhan holds a lead in 108 seats, as per the latest Election Commission trends. While several BJP members and leaders have already begun celebrating, senior party leader Ram Madhav slammed Archana Dalmia for her tweet. Madhav termed Dalmia's tweet as 'disrespect' of the people of Bihar. The Chairperson of Congress' Grievances Cell, Dalmia also remarked that if the people of Bihar had been 'lured' by another 'jumla'. Referring to Dalima's remarks, Madhav tweeted, "This is the respect they (Congress) have for the people of Bihar."

With NDA breaching the majority mark, celebrations have already begun across Bihar. BJP supporters have started gathering in numbers outside the party's headquarters in Delhi. As per Election Commission, NDA has won five seats and the Mahagathbandhan has won three seats.

READ | Bihar Election Results 2020 LIVE Updates: EC Declares Result Of 9 Seats, NDA Wins 5

'Absolutely glitch-free counting process so far'

Addressing a press conference at 2 PM earlier today, the Election Commission had informed that the counting process of votes for the Bihar Assembly Elections 2020 has been "absolutely glitch-free" so far. It informed that slightly more than 1 crore votes have been counted in Bihar so far out of the 4.10 crores votes which were cast during the three-phase election and the counting process will continue till late Tuesday evening. 

Counting of votes polled in Bihar Assembly elections began at 8 am on Tuesday at 55 counting centres across 38 districts of the state. The voting across 243-assembly constituencies in Bihar was held in three phases on October 28, November 3, and November 7 to decide the fate of 3,755 candidates. Over 7,29,27,396 electors were eligible to vote in Bihar polls and the voter turnout was at 57.05 per cent, which was 0.39 per cent higher compared to 56.66 per cent in 2015 elections. 

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