PTI
PATNA: (Nov 10) Electoral fortunes of 1,302 candidates, including over half a dozen ministers in the Nitish Kumar government, will be sealed on Tuesday with 3.70 crore voters eligible to exercise their franchise across 122 assembly segments in the second and final phase of the high-stakes Bihar polls.
For the ruling NDA and the opposition INDIA bloc, the final round of polling is being seen as a crucial test to retain the support of various groups with complex caste and community dynamics.
The districts going to polls on November 11 include West Champaran, East Champaran, Sitamarhi, Madhubani, Supaul, Araria and Kishanganj, and all these share borders with Nepal.
Most of these districts fall in the Seemanchal region, which has a high concentration of Muslim population, making it a high-stakes battle for both the INDIA bloc, which banks on the support of the minority community, as well as the ruling NDA, which alleges that the opposition is “protecting infiltrators”.
Security has been beefed up across Bihar for the second phase of the assembly polls with over 4 lakh personnel engaged in election duties, officials said.
Prominent candidates include Bijendra Prasad Yadav, a veteran JD(U) leader and the most senior member of the state cabinet, who seeks to retain his Supaul seat for a record eighth term.
Similar is the case of his cabinet colleague Prem Kumar, who belongs to the BJP and is trying his luck from Gaya Town, which he has won seven times, on the trot, since 1990.
Other ministers whose electoral fates are on stake include BJP’s Renu Devi (Bettiah) and Neeraj Kumar Singh “Bablu” (Chhatapur), and JD(U)’s Leshi Singh (Dhamdaha), Sheela Mandal (Phulparas) and Zama Khan (Chainpur).
Another prominent BJP leader who is in the fray is former deputy chief minister Tarkishore Prasad, who seeks to retain the Katihar seat for a fifth consecutive term.
Katihar district is also home to Balrampur and Kadwa assembly seats, where a hat-trick is being aimed at by Mehboob Alam and Shakeel Ahmed Khan, respectively, the legislative party leaders of CPI(ML) Liberation and the Congress.
The second and final phase is also being seen as a veritable test of strength for minor NDA partners Hindustani Awam Morcha, headed by Union minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, and Rajya Sabha MP Upendra Kushwaha’s Rashtriya Lok Morcha, both of which have got six seats each.
All six seats contested by HAM are going to the polls in the second phase. Four of these, Imamganj, Barachatti, Tikari and Sikandra, are currently held by the party, and the sitting MLAs have been given the chance to try their luck again.
Notably, Manjhi held the Imamganj seat till he got elected to the Lok Sabha from Gaya last year, and it was retained, in the ensuing by-poll, by his daughter-in-law Dipa. Barachatti is held by Dipa’s mother Jyoti Devi.
Candidates of the RLM, which was floated barely a couple of years ago and has no representation in the state legislature, include Kushwaha’s wife Snehlata and his most trusted aide Madhaw Anand, who are making their debut from Sasaram and Madhubani, respectively.
Four of the six candidates fielded by the party are going to the polls in the second phase.
Another important candidate in the fray is state Congress president Rajesh Kumar, who hopes to retain the reserved seat of Kutumba for a second consecutive term.
Votes will be cast at 45,399 polling stations, of which 40,073 fall in rural areas.
A number of turncoats are also in the fray. These include Mohania MLA Sangita Kumari, who won the seat as an RJD candidate in 2020 but is now contesting on a BJP ticket, and Vibha Devi, the MLA from Nawada, who recently quit the opposition and joined the JD(U).
Similar is the case of Murari Gautam, who was a minister from the Congress quota in the ‘Mahagathbandhan’ government, crossed over to the NDA when Nitish Kumar realigned with the BJP last year.
He is now in the fray from his sitting seat of Chenari on the ticket of Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), headed by Union minister Chirag Paswan.
Another keenly watched candidate will be Chanakya Prakash Ranjan, whose father is a former state minister and second term JD(U) MP from Banka, who raised many eyebrows by joining the RJD ahead of the assembly polls.
He is contesting the Belhar seat on the opposition party’s symbol.
Voting, in the second phase, will take place across 45,399 polling stations, of which 40.073 fall in rural areas. More than half of the electorate (2.28 crore) is aged between 30 and 60 years. Only 7.69 lakh are in the 18-19 years age group.
The total number of women voters in the 122 constituencies is 1.75 crore.
The Hisua seat in Nawada district has the largest electorate (3.67 lakh), while Lauria, Chanpatia, Raxaul, Triveniganj, Sugauli and Banmakhi have the most number of candidates (22 each).
Bihar recorded the “highest ever” voter turnout of over 65 per cent in the polling across 121 constituencies in the first phase of the assembly elections.
