 "BJP's Ratnesh Kumar, Congress' Shashant Shekhar, bihar")
As counting for the Bihar Assembly elections began on Friday, Bharatiya Janata Party's Ratnesh Kumar won the Patna Sahib constituency with 130,366 votes by a huge margin of 38,900 votes, according to the data from the Election Commission of India (ECI). Congress' Shashant Shekhar was trailing with 91,466 votes.
The counting process for the Bihar Assembly elections started at 8 am today. According to the directions from the Election Commission of India, postal ballot counting began first, followed by the counting of Electronic Voting Machine (EVM).
The 243-seat Bihar Assembly elections went to the polls in two phases on November 6 and 11. In the 2025 assembly elections, the state witnessed a record voter turnout in both phases, with an overall turnout of 67.13 per cent, marking the highest since 1951. The overall turnout has increased by 9.62 percentage points compared to the 2020 Assembly elections, when it stood at 57.29 per cent.
The turnout in the first phase was recorded at 65.08 per cent, while in the second phase, 68.76 per cent of voters went to the polls.
Also Read
 "Amit Shah, Home Minister")
 "Full list of winners")
 "Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) candidate Shatrughan Yadav and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Chhoti Kumari")
 "Farmers, Farmer, agriculture, Ploug")
 "Nitish Kumar, Nitish")
Patna Sahib Assembly elections
Patna Sahib, in the state capital, is one of the most important urban constituencies. The seat has been with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for years and is seen as a test of its popularity among city voters, professionals, youth, and the middle class. Winning here would strengthen the BJP’s image in urban Bihar, while a loss could hint at changing moods in the capital.
Patna Sahib: Key candidates
In the Patna Sahib seat, Bharatiya Janata Party's Ratnesh Kumar is contesting against Congress' Shashant Shekhar and Bahujan Samaj Party's (BSP's) Randhir Kumar. BJP's Nand Kishore Yadav is the incumbent in the Patna Sahib seat.
What did exit polls say?
Shortly after the second phase of voting ended, several exit polls released their predictions for the Bihar Assembly elections. Most of them projected a clear victory for the Janata Dal (United) and the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA). However, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Congress-led INDIA bloc were also expected to put up a strong fight. The Prashant Kishor-led Jan Suraaj Party received the least promising projections, with most pollsters predicting it would win only 0–2 seats.
In contrast, Axis My India, which released its data on Wednesday, forecast a much closer contest between the NDA and the INDIA bloc, with the ruling NDA slightly ahead and likely to cross the majority mark of 122 seats to form the government.
 "Vote, Voter, Voting, Bihar Election, Election")
 "bihar elections 2025, voting, elections, polls, polling booth")
 "Bihar elections 2020, BJP, BJP supporters")
 "Voter turnout in Phase-II reached a historic high of 69 per cent, surpassing the 65.08 per cent recorded in the first phase")
 "Vote, Voter, Voting, Bihar Election, Election")
