PATNA, Oct. 28 -- The NDA won the Tirhut Teachers' seat and was leading on four others, while independent candidate Rahul Raj won the Saran Teachers' constituency in the biennial elections for eight Bihar Legislative Council seats - four each in the Teachers' and Graduates' constituencies - on Tuesday. Raj (3300 votes), defeated Anand Pushkar (2727 votes) of the JD(U) from the Saran Teachers' constituency. Defending MLC Afaque Ahmad (2454 votes) of the Jan Suraaj Party (JSP) came third, said district officials in Saran. The NDA opened its tally when BJP candidate Narendra Prasad Singh (2,945 votes) won the Tirhut Teachers' seat with 594 votes, defeating his nearest rival Bhushan Jha (2,351 votes), an independent. Sitting MLC Sanjay Kumar Singh (1,967) of the CPI came third, officials said on Tuesday. Divisional commissioner Giridhar Dayal Singh handed over the certificate of victory to Singh. Narendra Singh was the runner-up to Sanjay Singh during the 2020 Tirhut Teachers' polls. BJP's Dr Narendra Kumar Yadav, with 2,396 first preference votes, led over his nearest rivals JSP's Rajneesh Ranjan (1,608 votes) and RJD's Nitesh Kumar (1410 votes) after the third round in the Kosi Graduates' constituency. Nawal Kishore Yadav of the BJP was also leading in the Patna Teachers' constituency over his nearest rival Dr Sanjeev Singh of the RJD. Sitting MLC Neeraj Kumar of the JD(U) was leading the high-voltage Patna Graduates' contest by a thin margin against his nearest rival Dilip Kumar of the RJD. Anuj Singh of the JSP was trailing at the third spot. The Patna Graduates' constituency has emerged as the principal political flashpoint amid an open confrontation within the Janata Dal (United) between Mokama MLA Anant Singh and sitting MLC Neeraj Kumar, a senior JD(U) leader and former minister, seeking a fourth consecutive term. Despite being a JD(U) MLA, Singh openly campaigned against Kumar and backed JSP candidate Dr Anuj Singh, leading to Anant Singh's suspension from the JD(U) for six years. The contest has become a test of the party's ability to contain internal dissent and rally behind its official nominee. Defending MLC Sarvesh Kumar of the BJP was leading over Anil Jha of the RJD and Md Imtiaz of the JSP on the Darbhanga Graduates' seat. Sitting MLC Banshidhar Brajvasi, an independent, was leading over Abhishek Jha of the JD(U) on Tirhut Graduates' seat. In a big boost to the Jan Suraaj Party (JSP) after its victory in the Bankipore assembly by-elections on August 3, its candidate Suresh Prasad Rai was leading from the Darbhanga Teachers' constituency over defending MLC Madan Mohan Jha of the Congress. The constituency witnessed a multi-cornered fight after RJD and CPM fielded separate candidates against the Congress nominee, splitting the Mahagathbandhan vote. A heated argument broke out between the counting agents of JSP's Rai and Congress candidate Jha inside the counting centre during the counting of votes for the Darbhanga Teachers' constituency, prompting police to detain both the agents. The argument was allegedly triggered over use of mobile phones inside the counting centre. Police personnel present at the counting centre intervened and took both counting agents into custody to bring the situation under control. The RJD and Congress, part of the Mahagathbandhan, had neither opened their accounts nor were they leading on any seat till filing of this report at 10.10pm on Tuesday. Graduate voters' constituencies of Patna (59.56%), Darbhanga (54.73%), Tirhut (48.51%) and Kosi (54.73%) recorded an overall voter turnout of 53.42% during polls on October 23. The Teachers' constituencies of Patna (74.75%), Saran (89.05%), Tirhut (82.99%) and Darbhanga (85.87%) recorded an overall voter turnout of 82.85%. Counting of votes, which began at 8am on Tuesday, was slow as ballot papers were used in the polls. The elections cover four Graduates' constituencies - Patna, Darbhanga, Tirhut and Kosi - and four Teachers' constituencies - Patna, Darbhanga, Tirhut and Saran. The eight seats have a combined electorate of more than 5.32 lakh voters. Polling was held on October 23 amid tight security, with 933 polling stations set up across the state. The counting for the council polls, held on October 23, will decide the electoral fate of 90 candidates in four Graduates' seats and 60 in four Teachers' constituencies. The counting is taking place at the Bihar School Examination Board's regional office in Purnea for the Kosi graduates seat, SVN Rajkiya Kanya Uchcha Madhyamik Vidyalaya for the Saran teachers constituency and the MIT administrative block in Muzaffarpur for both Tirhut seats, said a senior official at the chief electoral officer's office in Patna. For two seats in Patna, the counting was underway at Bankipur Government Girls' Senior Secondary School, while votes were being counted for two Darbhanga constituencies at Khel Bhawan-cum-Vyayamshala Bhawan, he said. The final results are expected on Wednesday evening....