Bihar Polls 2025: Deepa Manjhi Leads in Imamganj, NDA Surpasses 200 Seats in Initial Count
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As the vote counting continues for the Bihar Assembly elections, Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) candidate Deepa Manjhi is maintaining a strong lead in the Imamganj constituency. With over 12,000 votes in her favor, Deepa Manjhi, the daughter-in-law of union minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, is poised to win the seat. The RJD's Ritu Priya Chaudhary is trailing behind her. According to the latest update from the Election Commission of India (ECI), the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has taken an initial lead in 198 seats, while the Mahagathbandhan is leading in 35 seats. Among the NDA parties, the BJP is leading in 91 seats, JD(U) in 80, LJP(RV) in 22 seats, and HAM(S) in 5 seats. The RJD is leading in 26 seats, CPI(M)(L) and Congress in 4 seats, and CPI in 1 seat. The Imamganj Assembly seat, located in Bihar's Gaya district, is a Scheduled Caste (SC) reserved constituency that went to polls in the second phase of the Bihar Assembly elections. The constituency witnessed a voter turnout of 67.64 percent, according to the ECI. The state as a whole recorded a "historic high" voter turnout of 67.14 percent, its highest-ever. Deepa Kumari, Ritu Priya Chaudhary from the RJD, and Dr Ajeet Kumar from the Jan Suraaj Party (JSP) were key candidates contesting for the seat. The seat has been voting for a candidate from the HAMS for the last decade. The constituency has a population of 192,812 people, according to the 2011 census. It has been a tribal stronghold with communities including the Oraon, Chero, and Kharwar tribes residing here. In the previous Assembly polls, Jitan Ram Manjhi of the HAMS won against RJD's Uday Narain Choudhary with a margin of 9.23 percent votes. The seat had then witnessed 58.69 percent polling. In the 2015 Assembly polls, Majhi had defeated Choudhary, who was then contesting on a Janata Dal (United) ticket, by a margin of 19.58 percent votes. The counting of votes began at 8 am, with the postal ballots counted first. Elaborate security arrangements have been made for the counting of votes in Bihar. Schools in Patna will remain closed on Friday due to the vote counting.
