Patna | The counting of votes was underway on Friday morning for 243 assembly seats in Bihar, amid tight security arrangements, officials said.

According to the Election Commission's directions, postal ballot counting would begin first, and counting of EVMs will start at 8.30 am.

The counting of votes polled in the two-phase elections commenced at 8 am across 46 centres in 38 districts, the officials said.

The elections are being seen as a veritable referendum on Nitish Kumar, the JD(U) president and the state's longest-serving chief minister.

Political observers are also of the view that the outcome will be seen in terms of the popularity of the Narendra Modi government at the Centre.

The NDA's will will affirm the perception that the BJP-led coalition has made up for the setback in last year's Lok Sabha polls.

A victory of the INDIA bloc will embolden the opposition, which has been sulking over defeats in Haryana, Maharashtra and Delhi, blaming these on "vote theft".

Bihar had registered a historic voter turnout of 67.13 per cent in the elections to the 243-member assembly in two phases on November 6 and November 11. A total of 7.45 crore voters were eligible to decide the electoral fate of 2,616 candidates.

“A total of 4,372 counting tables, each staffed with one supervisor, counting assistant and micro-observer, have been set up. More than 18,000 counting agents appointed by the nominees will also oversee the process,” the Election Commission said in a statement.

RJD leader and INDIA bloc's CM candidate Tejashwi Yadav said his party workers and the common people were ready to handle "any unconstitutional activity during counting", while a lesser-known RJD leader Sunil Kumar Singh threatened that a "Nepal-like situation" would be witnessed on the streets if the "counting is halted, like in 2020".

The BJP, on the other hand, said the RJD leaders' remarks expressed their despair as the people, who have sealed their mandate in EVMs, have decided to give another term to the NDA.

Party state president Dilip Jaiswal said the party leaders are in constant touch with workers at counting centres and hoped that, as the polling went peacefully, the counting day would also remain eventless.