Votes are being counted in the eastern Indian state of Bihar where Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is hoping to return to power with its alliance partner.

The election was held in two phases on 6 and 11 November and the state witnessed a record voter turnout of 66.91% – the highest since Bihar’s first elections in 1951, India’s Election Commission (EC) said.

Several exit polls predict a victory for the BJP’s alliance, although such polls have been wrong in the past.

The election was conducted after a controversial revision of electoral rolls that the opposition alleged would exclude genuine voters and give Modi’s party an edge – a charge both the BJP and EC deny.

The counting of votes began at 08:00 local time (02:30 GMT) on Friday.

Trends are expected to become clear by noon local time, although the counting will finish only by evening.

The Bihar polls serve as a precursor to several other key state state elections next year in West Bengal, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, where the BJP is not in power and has struggled to make inroads.

Bihar, with more than 74 million voters, is India’s poorest state, with millions migrating to other parts of India for jobs. It is also among the few states in India where Modi’s party has not managed to form a government yet on its own.

The outgoing government is an alliance between the BJP and the Janata Dal (United).

Both the parties contested the recent election together, while India’s main opposition Congress party tied up with the regional Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and several smaller parties.

The polls also witnessed the entry of a new political party led by Prashant Kishor, a former political consultant who has in the past worked with both the BJP and the Congress.

This election was closely watched because it could be the last one to see active participation from two regional stalwarts – JD(U)’s Nitish Kumar and RJD’s Lalu Prasad Yadav – who have shaped Bihar’s politics for almost four decades.

The political rivals, both in their 70s, are said to be in poor health. They have on occasion joined hands to stay in power.

Kumar, who is Bihar’s incumbent chief minister, is one of the state’s most influential leaders and has led the government for most of the past two decades.

Yadav is currently out on bail after being convicted in corruption cases. His son Tejashwi has been projected as the chief ministerial candidate for the opposition alliance.

Nearly half of the voters are women, and the state – which has seen a steady increase in female voters over the years – recorded its highest female voter turnout in history at 71.6% this year.

Both alliances have offered financial assistance schemes to woo women.

The election was conducted after a controversial voter list revision carried out by India’s Election Commission a few months ago. The commission released a list of 74.2 million voters in September, weeding out 4.7 million names.

The exercise – which is now taking place in 12 states and federally administered territories across India – was sharply criticised by the opposition.

They accused the commission of dropping many voters, especially Muslims, to aid Modi’s party. Both the BJP and the Election Commission have denied such allegations.

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