Both Congress, BJP say hopeful of winning Bihar

As exit polls were sharply split on who would get to rule Bihar, both the Congress and the BJP on Thursday claimed their respective alliances would win the just-concluded assembly elections with comfortable margin and form the next government in the eastern state.

"Exit polls are opinion polls and we don't take them seriously," Congress general secretary Shakeel Ahmed told IANS.

He said reports from different parts of the state made it clear for the Congress that the grand alliance comprising the Janata Dal-United, Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Congress would form the new government in Bihar.

"Feedback we have been getting from ground zero makes it clear that our alliance will win the polls and form the government there," he said.

Expressing similar hopes, Bharatiya Janata Party's Nalin Kohli said his party was confident of victory.

"The BJP is confident of victory. The exit polls are showing wide variance, with some predicting a clear victory for the BJP and a few predicting a close call," he told IANS.

Kohli expressed happiness over the participation of a large number of women in the electoral process.

"The increase in voting percentage and the participation of a large number of women voters is a positive sign and a victory for democracy," he added.

Curtains came down on Thursday on the five-phase assembly elections in Bihar that pitted Prime Minister Narendra Modi's BJP-led National Democratic Alliance against the Grand Alliance of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, with nearly 60 percent of the 1.55 crore electorate turning out to vote in the final round.