The counting of votes in the crucial Bihar state assembly elections in India commenced on Tuesday morning.
The initial trends show the governing Janata Dal-United (JD-U) and BJP coalition having a neck and neck fight with the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD)-led opposition alliance which includes Congress, the country's main opposition party.
As the counting began at 8 a.m. (local time), the opposition Grand Alliance (Mahagathbandhan) of RJD and Congress had a lead over the JD-U-led National Democratic Alliance.
The situation, however, dramatically changed with the ruling BJP alliance piping the opposition alliance with leads in at least 15 seats.
Some 243 seats are up for grabs in a three-phase election that began at the end of October.
The RJD, a prominent party in the state and ally of Congress, has promised one million jobs to the youth of Bihar.
RJD's chief ministerial candidate, Tejashwi Yadav has said that the proposal to create jobs and fill government vacancies will be approved in the first cabinet meeting after his party comes to power.