Final preparations underway in Gaya for second phase of voting in Bihar

Gaya, November 10 (IANS) The stage is set for the second phase of Bihar assembly elections to be held on November 11. All necessary arrangements have been completed at the dispatch center in Gaya, from where the polling teams will soon leave for their respective polling stations with EVMs and other election material on Monday.

Battle lines have been drawn, positions taken, speeches made and the die thrown – the campaign for the second and final phase of the assembly elections has officially ended. As Bihar enters the 48-hour silence period, leaders across party lines are reviewing the first phase response to refine their strategies and gain maximum advantage in this high-stakes political contest.

In this phase, voting will be held in a total of 122 constituencies in 20 districts. In comparison, elections were held on 121 seats in 18 districts in the first phase. This time 1,302 candidates are in the fray, including 136 women, who are about 10 percent of the total. Voting will be conducted across 45,399 centres, in which 3.70 crore eligible voters, 1.95 crore men and 1.74 crore women, will exercise their franchise.

In the 2020 assembly elections, BJP won 42 of these 122 seats, followed by RJD 33, JD(U) 20, Congress 11 and Left parties five. In contrast, during the 2015 elections, when JD(U) and RJD were allies, the BJP’s seats dropped to 36, while the JD(U)-RJD-Congress alliance captured 80 of the 122 seats.

The constituencies where voting is taking place in this phase are spread across the central, western and northern regions of Bihar. The BJP traditionally enjoys strong support in Tirhut, Saran and North Mithilanchal regions, which include districts like East Champaran, West Champaran, Sheohar, Sitamarhi and Saran. JD(U) has lost some ground in recent years, but its influence remains intact in the Bhagalpur region. Meanwhile, the Grand Alliance (Grand Alliance) has maintained a strong base in the Magadh region, which includes Gaya, Aurangabad, Nawada, Jehanabad and Arwal districts.

–IANS

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