It overwhelmed the NDA, winning 26 out of the 37 seats for which counting was conducted

The Rashtriya Janata Dal-led secular alliance today overwhelmed the NDA in Bihar, winning 26 out of the 37 seats

for which counting was held. Seven Union ministers fell by the way side.

Several NDA stalwarts, including Union minister Sharad Yadav (Madhepura), C P Thakur (Patna), Nitish Kumar (Barh),

Hukum Dev Narayan Yadav (Madhubani), Syed Shahnawaz Hussain (Kishanganj), Sanjay Paswan (Nawada) and Digvijay Singh

(Banka) bit the dust.

However, NDA Convenor and JD-U President George Fernandes scraped through with a small margin of about 9000 votes from Muzzafarnagar constituency, even as Nitish Kumar managed to save face by winning the Nalanda seat vacated by Fernandes by over 60,000 votes.

Among the prominent winners of the secular alliance was RJD chief Laloo Prasad Yadav, who beat Sharad Yadav by over 60,000 votes in Madhepura.

Lok Janshakti Party President Ramvilas Paswan trounced his Janata Dal (United) rival and former Bihar minister Chedi Paswan by over two lakh votes to win the Hajipur seat for the seventh time.

The RJD, which won only five out of 37 seats in 1999 for which counting was held Thursday surged ahead, bagging 19 seats as its allies, the LJP and Congress, pitched in with four and three seats respectively.

The National  Democratic Alliance, which had put up a remarkable performance in 1999, winning 30 of the 40 seats in Bihar, suffered a humiliating defeat in many seats and ended up with only 11.

While the NDA, comprising the BJP and JD(U), suffered losses in 22 seats, with the JD(U) accounting for defeats in 14 seats and the BJP in eight.

The JD(U) lost Gopalganj, Hajipur, Sitmarhi, Jhanjharpur, Rosera, Samastipur, Barh, Balia, Saharsha, Madhepura, Banka, Khagaria, Munger and Jehanabad to the secular alliance, while the BJP lost Motihari, Madhubani, Darbhanga, Kishenganj, Patna, Sasaram, Nawada, and Gaya.

The BJP wrested away three seats -- Bhagalpur from the Commmunist Party of India-Marxist, Purnea from independent Pappu Yadav, and Araria from the RJD. The JD(U) won Begusarai and Bikramganj from Congress and the RJD respectively.

The RJD, on the other hand, wrested Motihari, Gopalnganj, Sitamarhi, Jhanjharpur, Darbhanga, Samastipur, Barh, Madhepura, Kishenganj, Banka, Khagaria, Munger, Patna, Nawada and Gaya from the NDA. It only conceded Araria and Bikramganj to the NDA and retained Vaishali, Sheohar and Ara.

Riding piggyback on the RJD, the Congress won Madhubani, Sasaram and Aurangabad seats. It retained only Aurangabad and wrested the other two from BJP.