Add thelocalreport.in As A Trusted Source
New Delhi, Nov 4 (IANS) Bihar is going to polls in the first phase on Thursday, November 6, in 121 assembly seats across 18 districts that form an irregular ellipse in the middle of the state, meeting the eastern border of Uttar Pradesh.
As per election rules, the decibel level of campaigning in this part was muted on the evening of Tuesday, November 4, where several political heavyweights are in the fray among the 1,314 candidates. The second phase of voting will be held on November 11.
Candidates in the first phase include Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidates Samrat Chaudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha, both deputy chief ministers in the state National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government led by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav, who is the chief ministerial candidate from the opposition platform of the Grand Alliance, is also included in this round of voting.
Samrat Chaudhary has entered the electoral fray after two terms as a member of the Bihar Legislative Council. Earlier, he had twice represented Parbatta Assembly constituency in the Assembly as an RJD candidate (2000 and 2010). He has served as a minister in various cabinets headed by RJD’s Rabri Devi, currently Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) leader Jitan Ram Manjhi and Janata Dal (United) chief Nitish Kumar. His responsibilities also included agriculture, Panchayati Raj, urban development and housing, health and metrology and horticulture.
Samrat Chaudhary is now representing the BJP from Tarapur, where in the 2020 assembly elections, JD(U)’s Mewa Lal Chaudhary defeated his nearest rival, RJD’s Divya Prakash by over 7,000 votes. He will turn 57 on November 14, two days after the results are declared.
His party and cabinet colleague, Vijay Kumar Sinha, 58, is contesting from Lakhisarai – the seat he has represented since 2010. In 2020, he defeated Congress candidate Amresh Kumar by a margin of around 10,500 votes and JD(U)’s Ramanand Mandal by over 6,500 votes in 2015, when Nitish Kumar contested the elections with parties opposing the BJP.
Sinha has also been a minister in various departments and Leader of Opposition in Bihar Assembly (2022-2024) and Speaker (2020-2022).
Meanwhile, Lalu Prasad’s successor Tejashwi Yadav, who will turn 36 on November 9, is contesting from Raghopur, from where he has won twice (2015, 2020). On both occasions, he defeated BJP’s Satish Kumar, who had snatched the seat from his mother Rabri Devi in 2010, in this Yadav family stronghold. His elder brother is contesting from Mahua, a seat he won for RJD in 2015 before moving to Hasanpur in 2020.
This time he is representing the recently launched Janashakti Janata Dal after his expulsion due to alleged anti-party activities.
The first phase is a high-octane start that packs symbolic and real significance, involving not only the marquee showdown but also intense local battles shaped by caste and welfare politics and the controversial backgrounds of candidates with serious criminal charges.
Of these, Mokama is one such constituency where JDU candidate Anant Singh was arrested last week for his alleged involvement in the death of Jan Suraj supporter Dularchand Yadav in a recent clash. If convicted, he will be disqualified as a candidate. According to an analysis of self-sworn affidavits of election candidates by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and Bihar Election Watch, he is already facing at least 28 cases, including murder, attempt to murder, criminal intimidation, rioting etc.
Anant Singh filed his nomination this time after being acquitted by the Patna High Court on his conviction under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
Other constituencies going to polls in this phase include Begusarai, once known as the “Leningrad of Bihar”, reflecting decades of strong left organisation, trade-union presence and a public culture that celebrates Marxist politics. But the political restructuring of the 1990s after the Mandal era changed the arithmetic of Begusarai, weakening the Left.
In 2020, the BJP snatched the seat and continues to dominate, barring the 2025 elections. Sitting BJP MLA Kundan Kumar will once again contest against Congress candidate Amita Bhushan.
Other big names in this phase include JDU state president Umesh Kushwaha and RJD’s Bhola Yadav, a close aide of party chief Lalu Prasad.
Then there are celebrities who have entered the race, such as Bhojpuri actor Khesari Lal Yadav (RJD) and popular folk singer Maithili Thakur (BJP).
–IANS
JB/UK