3.7 crore voters to decide electoral fate of 1,302 candidates in 122 seats
PATNA: Polling for the second and final phase of high-stakes Assembly elections in Bihar will be held on Tuesday in 122 constituencies spread across 20 districts.
Voting in the second phase will take place in constituencies along the Indo-Nepal border and in Seemanchal, Magadh, Shahabad, Kosi and Mithilanchal regions. All arrangements have been put in place by the Election Commission to ensure free, fair and peaceful polling.
Bihar police chief Vinay Kumar said that from the security point of view, borders adjoining Nepal and inter-state borders with Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, and Jharkhand have been sealed and regular patrolling was being carried out. Security has been beefed up across Bihar with over 4 lakh personnel engaged in election duties.
As many as 45,000 polling stations have been set up and control rooms have also been established in all 20 district headquarters. Nearly 40,000 polling stations fall in rural areas. Over 3.7 crore voters are expected to decide the fate of 1,302 candidates who are testing their electoral fortunes, including 136 women. The total number of women voters in the 122 constituencies is 1.75 crore.
From the NDA combine, the BJP has fielded 53 candidates, followed by 44 of Janata Dal (United) and Lok Jan Shakti (LJP) is contesting on 15 seats.
From the opposition Mahagathbandhan side, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) has put the highest number of candidates with 71 nominations, followed by 37 candidates by the Congress. The Vikas Sheel Insaan Party, led by Mukesh Sahani, is contesting on eight seats while the CPI(M-L) has put up six candidates.
In half a dozen constituencies, a friendly fight is on the cards among the constituent parties of Mahagathbandhan as RJD,Congress, VIP and CPI have fielded candidates against each other. Six ministers in Nitish Kumar’s government are also in the fray in this phase of polling.
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”.
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.
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.
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.
According to sources in the state police, there are around 8,491 critical polling station locations (PSLs) where security personnel will remain extra vigilant during the poll.
Around 500 companies (around 50,000 personnel) of the Central Armed Police Force had been engaged in pre-election duties in Bihar, and subsequently, 500 more companies of CAPF arrived in the state, he said.
“More than 60,000 personnel of the Bihar Police have also been engaged in election duty,” a senior official said.
Around 2,000 personnel of reserve battalions from other states, 30,000 personnel of the Bihar Special Armed Police, more than 20,000 home guards, around 19,000 newly recruited constables (who are undergoing training), and nearly 1.5 lakh chowkidars’ (rural police) have also been engaged in the poll duty for both phases, he said.
Asked about the number of sensitive polling centres in the second phase, the officer said, “From a security point of view, all booths are equally important.”
“Gayaji has the highest number of critical PSLs at 1,084, followed by Aurangabad (942), Rohtas (827), Nawada (690), Banka (613), Bhagalpur (574), Bettiah (526), Araria (518), Supaul (406), Bagha (368), Jamui (357), Bhabhua (325), Arwal (315), Jehanabad (287), Madhubani (282), etc.
“There are places where the number of critical PSLs are zero. These include Kishanganj, Purnea, Motihari and Sitamathi”, official said.
Besides, there are 13,651 hamlets in 122 seats which have been identified as ‘vulnerable’, the official added.
EC officials and security personnel are making special arrangements to ensure smooth voting in these vulnerable areas, he said.
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.
