(MENAFN- AsiaNet News) As the third round of vote counting begins for the Mokama assembly constituency in Bihar's Patna district, the early trends show jailed Janata Dal (United) MLA Anant Kumar Singh leading by a close margin of 700 votes against Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) candidate Veena Devi. Meanwhile, Jan Suraaj Party (JSP) candidate Priyadarshi Piyush trails by a margin of 10,536 votes.

Bihar Assembly Election: A Close Contest

According to the Election Commission of India (ECI) website, Bihar is witnessing a close competition, with the JD(U) leading on 63 assembly seats. In contrast, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leads on 61 seats. The opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leads on 34 seats, while the Congress leads on 11 assembly constituencies.

As the counting of votes began for the Bihar assembly elections, early trends indicate that the ruling NDA has surpassed the halfway mark of 122, strengthening its lead over the Mahagathbandhan.

NDA Confident of Victory

Meanwhile, Bihar BJP chief Dilip Jaiswal today asserted that the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) were getting the public mandate in the 2025 assembly elections.

Speaking to ANI, Jaiswal said that NDA contested the Bihar assembly polls in the name of Nitish Kumar."It was evident from the faces of the public that NDA is getting a mandate this time. NDA is going to form the government again. The leaders of NDA have put in a lot of effort, whether it is Nitish Kumar, Chirag Paswan, Jitan Ram Manjhi, Upendra Kushwaha, PM Modi, JP Nadda, HM Amit Shah or Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. We fought elections on the face of Nitish Kumar with the slogan '2025, phir se Nitish'," Jaiswal said.

Mokama: The 'Bahubali' Battleground

Anant Singh Arrested in Murder Case

Anant Kumar Singh was arrested earlier, before the polling began in Bihar, by Patna Police in connection with the murder case of a Jan Suraaj supporter, Dularchand Yadav, the Patna Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Kartikeya Sharma said. SSP said Anant Singh has been arrested along with two associates, Manikant Thakur and Ranjeet Ram. Singh was taken before the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) court in Patna.

Mokama is infamous for being a stronghold of influential and often controversial "strongmen" or "bahubalis" in Bihar politics, most notably Anant Kumar Singh, his brother Dilip Singh and Surajbhan Singh. Mokama is now once again in the limelight after the murder of Dularchand Yadav, as the vote battle may be influenced because of the incident.

This year, the electoral battle in Mokama Assembly constituency in Patna district, Bihar, is centred around two Bahubalis - Anant Singh and Surajbhan Singh, who dominate the region's political narrative.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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