PTI | Patna
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.
