Patna: Voting for the second and last phase of the Bihar Assembly elections began amidst tight security on Tuesday. Security has been further tightened all across the state following Monday evening’s car blast at Delhi. Barring a minor incident involving the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraaj Party at Barbigha, the election process is underway peacefully, officials said.
Key candidates in the fray are BJP’s Renu Devi, Congress’ Rajesh Ram (Kutumba) and JD(U)’s Leshi Singh.
The voter turnout till 9 am was much higher than that in the 2020 Assembly elections. Nearly 14.55% of the voters turned up at the booths by 9 am as compared to just 7.6% in 2020.
Tuesday’s polling will decide the fate of 1,302 candidates across 122 constituencies, including Gaya, Purnia, Sitamarhi, Imamganj, Jehanabad, Kishanganj and Chainpur. There are more than 3.70 crore voters in this phase.
This phase will decide the fate of 12 ministers in the Bihar cabinet. The elections on Tuesday are also considered important by the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) as it won 66 of the 122 seats in 2020. While the BJP had won 42 seats, chief minister Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) had bagged 20.
The Mahagathbandhan had won 49 of the seats in 2020, with the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) bagging 33, the Congress 11 and the CPI(ML)-L five.
Results for the Bihar elections will be announced on November 14. While the NDA is seeking a comeback, banking on Nitish’s 20-year-rule over the state, the Mahagathbandhan has brought up issues such as misgovernance and unemployment. It is banking on the anti-incumbency factor to remove the NDA from power in the state.
Campaigning has been brutal from both sides, involving a lot of drama and name-calling.