Bihar set to vote in Phase 1 today, 3.75 crore voters to seal fate of 1,314 in fray
Among key contestants in today's polls are RJD's Tejashwi Yadav, deputy chief ministers Samrat Chaudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha.
Around 37.5 million voters will exercise their franchise in the high-stakes first-phase of the Bihar assembly polls for 121 seats on Thursday to decide the fate of 1,314 candidates in the fray, including Opposition Grand Alliance’s chief ministerial candidate and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav, deputy chief ministers Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
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The second-phase polling for the remaining 122 seats will be held on November 11 and the results will be declared on November 14.
Also read: Day before Bihar's phase 1 voting, Jan Suraaj Party's Munger candidate defects to join BJP
Among the key contestants fighting the first-phase polls, Tejashwi Yadav is eyeing for a hat-trick from in Raghopur, a constituency formerly represented by his chief minister parents Lalu Prasad and Rabri Devi. He is pitted against BJP’s Satish Kumar , who had defeated Rabri Devi in 2010 while contesting on a JD(U) ticket, as well as Jan Suraaj Party’s Chanchal Singh.
Also read: BJP MP Anurag Thakur accuses Tejashwi Yadav of trying to revive jungle raj in Bihar
Several key ministers in the Nitish Kumar-led government, including both deputy CMs Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha, will also have their electoral fates decided in the first phase of polls. while Choudhary, who is in the poll fray after a long gap, is contesting from his home turf Tarapur, Sinha hopes to retain Lakhisarai for the fourth consecutive term.
Another minister and former state BJP chief Mangal Pandey, who has been an MLC since 2012, is facing his first assembly polls from Siwan against RJD heavyweight Awadh Bihari Chaudhary, a former assembly speaker who has represented the seat for several terms.
The first-phase will also seal the electoral fate of new entrants in politics — folk singer Maithili Thakur, who is contesting from Alinagar in Darbhanga on a BJP ticket, as well as Bhojpuri stars Khesari Lal Yadav, who is the RJD candidate from Chhapra, and Ritesh Pandey, who is contesting in Kargahar on a Jan Suraaj Party ticket.
The first-phase polls will put to test the caste and poll arithmetic of both the major coalitions — Grand Alliance and the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) — as well as the impact of promises of jobs and development made by both the groupings.
“The first phase of polls would be a test of both caste and poll agenda of the NDA and Mahagathbandhan as both the coalitions have pitched hard on the development agenda. But this time, there are possibilities that the job promise made by RJD and NDA could be an influencing factor especially for the Gen Z , the voters in the age group of 18-28 who want employment and better lifestyle. So, this group may vote transcending caste barriers to vote on ground issues,” said DM Diwakar, political observer and former director of A N Sinha Institute of Social Sciences.
The first-phase will witness a direct contest between the BJP and the RJD in 23 seats while 33 constituencies will witness a direct fight between Nitish Kumar led JD(U) and the RJD, while on 10 seats, the JD(U) is locked in a straight fight with the Congress.
Poll observers believe the first round of polls would be also crucial for the new outfit Jan Suraaj Party, led by political strategist-turned-politician Prashant Kishor, which has fielded candidates in all 243 seats and pitched as an opponent to both the ruling NDA and opposition RJD.
“Jan Suraaj has high stakes in the poll and the first phase where maximum seats would in north Bihar and parts of south Bihar would be crucial for Kishor, who is keen on throwing an alternative third front to people by talking of development and also banking on upper caste, Dalit and Muslim votes. It would be interesting to see whether the Jan Suraaj emerges as a formidable force or plays a spoiler for the two coalitions INDIA bloc and NDA by cutting their votes,” Diwakar said.
