Rashtriya Janata Dal president Lalu Prasad is leading from Saran, while his ally Lok Janshakti Party chief Ramvilas Paswan is trailing from Hajipur, as Bihar's ruling National Democratic Alliance appears set for major gains with Janata Dal (U) and the Bharatiya Janata Party together leading in 20 of the 25 seats trends of which are available so far.
Lalu, locked in a seesaw battle with BJP spokesman Rajiv Pratap Rudy, is leading by a margin of over 5,000 votes in Saran after the fifth round, while Paswan is trailing his JD(U) rival and former chief minister Ramsunder Das by over 5,000 votes in Hajipur.
Union Rural Development Minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh of RJD is trailing JD(U) candidate Vijay Kumar Shukla alias Munna Shukla in Vaishali by a little over 1,000 votes after the first round, but Congress' Meira Kumar, Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment, is leading in Sasaram.
Union Minister of State for Tourism Kanti Singh is trailing her JD(U) rival Mahabali Singh in Karakat by 2,200 votes, while Union Minister of State for Home Shakeel Ahmed is also trailing BJP candidate and former Union minister Hukumdeo Narain Yadav in Madhubani.
Actor-turned-politician Shatrughan Sinha is leading over his RJD rival Vijay Sahu by over 30,000 votes in Patna Saheb where television superstar Shekhar Suman of the Congress is trailing in the third place.
Union Minister of State for Agriculture Akhilesh Prasad Singh of RJD is trailing behind state BJP president Radhamohan Singh in East Champaran by 3,500 votes after the first round of counting.
Union Minister of State for Human Resource Development Mohammed Ali Ashraf Fatmi is trailing his BJP rival and former cricketer Kirti Azad by over 1,000 votes after the second round in Darbhanga.
Bihar JD(U) president Rajiv Ranjan Singh Lalan is leading over his RJD rival Rambadan Rai by over 18,000 votes in Munger.
Rebel JD(U) candidate and former party president George Fernandes is in the fourth place at Muzaffarpur where the party's official nominee Jainarain Prasad Nishad is leading over LJP's Bhagwan Lal Sahni by about 6,000 votes.
BJP's prominent Muslim face and former union minister Syed Shahnawaz Hussain is ahead of his RJD rival Shakuni Chaudhary by over 11,000 votes in Bhagalpur.
While JD(U) nominees are leading in 11 seats including Sitamarhi, Hajipur, Jhanjharpur, Muzaffarpur, Vaishali, Samastipur, Ujiarpur, Munger, Aurangabad, Supaul and Karakat, BJP candidates are ahead in Bhagalpur, Purnia, Buxar, Patna Saheb, Darbhanga, Nawada, Madhubani, Gaya and East Champaran.
RJD nominees are ahead in Jamui and Saran, Congress in Sasaram, LJP in Araria, independent candidate and former Union minister Digvijay Singh is leading in Banka.
Independent Om Prakash is leading by 7,000 votes over Shahabuddin's wife Heena in Siwan.
