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Patna: The first phase of the Bihar assembly elections, to be held on Thursday, will decide the electoral fate of 1,314 candidates, including top leaders like INDIA bloc chief ministerial face Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, two deputy CMs — Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha — and 13 other cabinet ministers of the Nitish Kumar-led coalition government.More than 3.75 crore electors are expected to cast their votes at 45,341 polling stations in the first phase.State’s chief electoral officer Vinod Singh Gunjiyal on Wednesday said the first phase polls would be held in 18 districts. All necesaary preparations have been made for conduct of fair polling in the state. He said the electronic voting machines (EVMs) and the Voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) were distributed among the polling parties despatched to conduct polling in 121 assembly constituencies going to polling in the first phase.Of the total 15 cabinet ministers, including two deputy CMs, 10 hail from the BJP, while the remaining five are from the JD(U). The BJP ministers whose electoral fate will be decided on Thursday include both deputy CMs: Samrat Choudhary (Tarapur), Vijay Sinha (Lakhisarai), revenue and land reforms minister Sanjay Saraogi (Darbhanga), Jibesh Kumar Mishra (Jale), Kedar Prasad Gupta (Kurhani), Mangal Pandey (Siwan), Krishna Kumar Mantoo (Amnour), Surendra Mehta (Bachchwara), Dr Sunil Kumar (Biharsharif) and Nitin Nabin (Bankipur).
The five JD(U) ministers are — Vijay Kumar Choudhary (Sarairanjan), Shrawan Kumar (Nalanda), education minister Sunil Kumar (Bhore), Madan Sahni (Bahadurpur), and Ratnesh Sada (Sonbarsa).INDIA bloc chief ministerial face Tejashwi Prasad Yadav is eyeing a hat-trick from Raghopur, considered a stronghold of RJD chief Lalu Prasad's family. Tejashwi's elder brother and former minister Tej Pratap Yadav is contesting from Mahua in Vaishali district.In Raghopur, Tejashwi’s main challenger is Satish Kumar (BJP) who had defeated Rabri Devi in 2010 while contesting on a JD(U) symbol. The seat was earlier expected to witness a high-voltage contest, with Jan Suraaj founder Prashant Kishor declaring that he wanted to take on Tejashwi on his home turf. However, Kishor decided not to contest and his party gave a ticket to a lesser known face, Chanchal Singh.In Tarapur, deputy CM Samrat, who is enjoying his second consecutive term in the state legislative council, is contesting a direct election after about a decade.
His victory is bound to cement his position in a party he joined less than a decade ago, but where his political stock has risen sharply. The former state BJP president faces a stiff challenge from RJD candidate Arun Kumar Sah, who had lost the seat in by-election by a thin margin.Another deputy CM, Vijay Sinha, hopes to retain Lakhisarai 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.One of the keenly watched contests will be in Mokama, where JD(U)'s don-turned-politician Anant Kumar Singh, who was recently sent to jail in connection with the killing of Dular Chand Yadav, a Jan Suraaj supporter, during the election campaign, is locked in a straight battle with the RJD's Veena Devi, who is the spouse of Surajbhan, another don-turned-politician. Interestingly, Anant and Veena belong to the same Bhumihar community.Some other seats and candidates whose performance will be keenly watched are young folk singer Maithili Thakur (Alinagar BJP candidate), Bhojpuri film star Khesari Lal Yadav (Chhapra RJD candidate) and Bhojpuri singer Ritesh Pandey (Kargahar Jan Suraaj Party candidate).As per the data provided by the Election Commission, of the 121 seats going to polls in the first phase, Digha constituency in the state capital has the maximum number of about 4.58 lakh electors, while Barbigha in Sheikhpura district has the lowest, with 2.32 lakh electors.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 the minimum of five candidates each.Of the total 3.75 crore electors in the 121 constituencies, 10.72 lakh are “new electors.” The number of electors in the age group of 18-19 years, though, was 7.38 lakh, the commission said on Wednesday.State’s chief electoral officer Vinod Singh Gunjiyal on Wednesday said the first phase elections would be held in 18 districts. All necesaary preparations have been made for conduct of fair polling in the state. He said the electronic voting machines (EVMs) and the Voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) were distributed among the polling parties despatched to conduct polling in 121 assembly constituencies going to polling in the first phase.
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