Bihar elections Phase 1: Tejashwi, Samrat in key fights

The stage is set for the crucial first phase of the assembly elections today (November 6) in Bihar. 3.75 crore voters will decide the electoral fate of 1,314 candidates, including top leaders such as the INDIA bloc's Chief Ministerial face Tejashwi Yadav and Deputy CM Samrat Choudhary of the BJP.

Voting will take place at 45,341 polling stations, an overwhelming majority of which (36,733) fall in rural areas. According to the EC, of the 3.75 crore voters in the 121 constituencies, 10.72 lakh were “new electors”. The number of voters in the age group of 18-19 years, though, was 7.38 lakh.

The assembly elections take place soon after the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, which now has 7.24 crore voters across the state, about 60 lakh less than the size before the exercise was undertaken.

All eyes are set on Raghopur

Tejashwi Yadav aims for a hat-trick in Raghopur, where the BJP has fielded Satish Kumar Yadav against him. Satish Kumar, who was with JD(U), defeated Rabri Devi in 2010. Devi is Tejashwi's mother.

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The seat is expected to witness a high-voltage contest, with Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor declaring that he wanted to take on Yadav on his home turf. However, Kishor chose not to contest, and his party fielded a lesser-known candidate, Chanchal Singh.

A political rival at home

In the adjoining Mahua constituency, Yadav’s estranged elder brother Tej Pratap, who has floated his own outfit, Janshakti Janata Dal, is locked in a multi-cornered contest.

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The elder son of RJD president Lalu Prasad seeks to wrest the seat from the sitting RJD MLA Mukesh Raushan. Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), an NDA ally of the BJP, has fielded Sanjay Singh in the seat. The runner-up in the 2020 election for the seat, Ashma Parveen, has made the contest more unpredictable by entering as an independent candidate.

Deputy CMs in the battlefield

Several ministers in the Nitish Kumar government, including Deputy Chief Ministers Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha, will also have their electoral fates decided in the first phase of the polls.

Sinha hopes to retain the Lakhisarai seat for the fourth consecutive term, surmounting the not-so-formidable challenge provided by Amresh Kumar of the Congress and Suraj Kumar of the Jan Suraaj Party.

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Choudhary, who is enjoying his second consecutive term in the legislative council, is contesting a direct election after about a decade in Tarapur.

His victory is bound to cement his position in the party that he joined less than a decade ago, but where his political stock has risen rapidly. The former state BJP president, Choudhary, faces a stiff challenge from RJD’s Arun Kumar Sah, who had lost the seat in 2020 by a thin margin of about 5,000 votes.

Mangal Pandey in Siwan

Similar to Choudhary’s case, Mangal Pandey, a minister and a former state BJP president, is contesting from Siwan, marking his first attempt at an assembly election. Pandey, an MLC since 2012, faces a powerful challenge from RJD’s Awadh Bihari Chaudhary, a former Assembly Speaker who has served several terms as an MLA from Siwan.

A candidature that triggered a row

The neighbouring seat, Raghunathpur, is being keenly watched because of RJD candidate Osama Shahab. The 31-year-old candidate is son of deceased gangster-turned-politician Mohammad Shahabuddin, who served several terms as an MP of Siwan known as the “uncrowned king” of the area.

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Osama’s candidature has been seized upon by the NDA, which cites it as proof that the RJD stands for a “Return of Jungle Raj.” BJP leaders like Himanta Biswa Sarma have even said that his name evokes that of slain terrorist Osama bin Laden.

Other significant candidates

Other seats and candidates whose performance will be keenly watched are young folk singer Maithili Thakur (BJP-Aliganj) and Bhojpuri superstars Khesari Lal Yadav (RJD-Chhapra) and Ritesh Pandey (Jan Suraaj Party – Kargahar).

About a dozen ministers, most of them from the BJP, which has the lion’s share in the cabinet, are in the fray. They are Nitin Nabin (Bankipur), Sanjay Saraogi (Darbhanga), Jibesh Kumar (Jale) and Kedar Prasad Gupta (Kurhani), all of whom will be defending their seats.

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Among JD(U) ministers, Shrawan Kumar (Nalanda) and Vijay Kumar Chaudhary (Sarairanjan) will have their fate decided in the first phase.

One of the most keenly watched contests will be in Mokama, where JD(U)’s Anant Singh, who is in jail in connection with the killing of a Jan Suraaj Party supporter during the election campaign, is locked in a straight battle with RJD’s Veena Devi, wife of gangster-turned-politician Suraj Bhan.

Key data on voters and candidates

According to the Election Commission, of the 121 seats which go to polls, Digha, which represents the western part of the state capital, has the maximum number of about 4.58 lakh voters, while Barbigha in Sheikhpura district has the lowest of 2.32 lakh voters.

Kurhani and Muzaffarpur have the largest number of 20 candidates each in the fray, while the reserved constituencies of Bhorey and Alauli, besides Parbatta, have five candidates each.

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(With agency inputs)