PATNA: The high-octane campaign for the first phase of the Bihar elections ended on Tuesday as several heavyweights, including deputy CMs Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha as well as INDIA bloc’s chief ministerial candidate Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, are in the fray.
In the first phase, 121 constituencies spread across 18 districts will go to polls on Thursday. Voting for the remaining 122 seats will be held on November 11 and results declared on November 14. Of the 243 assembly constituencies, 203 are General seats, 38 are reserved for SCs and two for STs. The electoral battle will be mainly between the NDA and INDIA bloc but poll strategist-turned-politician Prashant Kishor’s JSP is expected to be ‘X’ factor, making the contest between two alliances more intense. Union minister and BJP’s Bihar poll in-charge Dharmendra Pradhan, however, said the contest would be between NDA and the opposition alliance.
The INDIA bloc comprises RJD, Congress, CPI (Ml), VIP, CPI, CPI(M) and the Indian Inclusive Party (IIP) floated by former Congress leader Indrajeet Prasad Gupta in 2023. The NDA in Bihar comprises BJP, JD(U), lJP (RV), HAM and RlM. In the 2020 elections, the NDA won 125 seats and the opposition Grand alliance 110.
As many as 1,314 candidates are in the fray for the first phase. Key issues, such as unemployment, migration, corruption, inflation, floods, substandard education and lack of medical facilities, were raised during campaign. While the INDIA bloc described the election as a fight for a change, NDA said people would vote to prevent return of ‘jungle raj’.
Other leaders contesting in this phase include Tejashwi’s estranged brother Tej Pratap Yadav from Mahua and state JD (U) president Umesh Kushwaha. Popular faces from the entertainment industry are in the fray — Bhojpuri actor Khesari Lal Yadav contesting on RJD ticket from Chhapra and folk singer Maithili Thakur on BJP ticket from Alinagar.
Top leaders from NDA and INDIA bloc held rallies across the state for the first phase. They included PM Narendra Modi, Bihar nitish Kumar, home Minister amit shah, UP CM Yogi adityanath, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and loP Rahul Gandhi.
