Patna, Oct 27: The first results of Bihar's Legislative Council (MLC) elections were declared on Tuesday night, with three of the four Teachers' constituency seats decided as counting continued for the remaining seats, Patna Press and The Daily Jagran reported. Polling for the eight seats — four Graduates' and four Teachers' constituencies, with 150 candidates in the fray — was held on October 23, and counting began on Tuesday morning.

Source: Patna Press

In the Tirhut Teachers' constituency, BJP candidate Narendra Prasad Singh, popularly known as NP Singh, defeated CPI candidate Sanjay Kumar Singh by 594 votes, according to Newsd and The World Opinion; The Daily Jagran put the winning margin at 600 votes in its live updates. Singh was backed by the ruling NDA.

Source: Newsd

In Saran Teachers, Independent candidate Rahul Raj — described by Patna Press as a BJP rebel — won by a margin of more than 800 votes after the counting of second-preference votes. In Darbhanga Teachers, Jan Suraaj candidate Suresh Prasad Rai defeated Congress candidate Madan Mohan Jha by 324 votes, Patna Press reported.

Source: Patna Press

594 votesNP Singh's winning margin in Tirhut Teachers, as reported by Newsd (Jagran reported 600)
800+ votesRahul Raj's winning margin in Saran Teachers, after second-preference counting
324 votesSuresh Prasad Rai's winning margin over Madan Mohan Jha in Darbhanga Teachers
8 seats / 150 candidatesFour Graduates' and four Teachers' constituencies voted on October 23

Counting was still under way late on Tuesday in the other constituencies. In Patna Teachers, RJD candidate Dilip Patel had led JD(U) candidate Neeraj Kumar by 16 votes after two rounds, but later trends put incumbent BJP MLC Naval Kishore Yadav ahead, Patna Press reported. In the Graduates' seats, JD(U)'s Neeraj Singh was leading in Patna, BJP's NK Yadav was ahead in Kosi, BJP's Sarvesh Kumar was leading by 237 votes in Darbhanga, and Independent Banshidhar Brajvasi was ahead in Tirhut. Final results for the Graduates' seats were expected after midnight or by Wednesday morning.

Source: Patna Press

Earlier on Tuesday, a heated argument between supporters of RJD candidate Dr Sanjeev Kumar and BJP candidate Naval Kishore Yadav escalated into a physical altercation at the counting centre inside Bankipur Girls' School in Patna, where about 3,500 votes for the Patna Teachers' seat were being counted. The Inspector General and the Senior Superintendent of Police reached the centre, and counting resumed under the direct supervision of election observers, Patna Press reported.

Source: Patna Press