The Raniganj assembly constituency of Bihar is set to vote along with 77 others in the third and final phase of assembly elections. While the Janata Dal (United) party has fielded Amchit Rishi Dev, who is seeking a second term on the assembly seat, the Rashtriya Janata Dal has strategically awarded its ticket to Avinash Manglam, contract teacher.
Manglam’s candidature comes in the backdrop of Tejashwi Yadav’s aim to keep the issue of contractual teachers alive in the assembly elections. Yadav, in his party’s manifesto has promised that if the Grand Alliance comes to power, the contractual teachers in state would be entitled for the same pay for same work, for which they have been agitating for long.
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The seat, reserved for scheduled caste candidates, falls in the state’s Araria district and also comes under the Araria Lok Sabha constituency.
In the 2015 assembly polls, JD(U’s) Dev had defeated BJP’s Ramji Das Rishidev by a margin of 14,930 votes. The constituency had witnessed a voter turnout of 56%.
This time, apart from JD(U) and RJD candidates, 10 others are fighting for the Raniganj assembly seat. While Parmanand Rishideo is contesting on Lok Jan Shakti Party’s ticket, Fuddan Paswan on Rashtriya Jansambhavna Party’s, Balkrishn Raj Choudhary on Apna Adhikar Party’s, Renu Kumari on Aam Janmat Party’s, Roshan Devi on All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen’s, Lakshmi Rishi on Bharatiya Momin Front’s, Virender Rishideo on Bhartiya Lokmat Rashtrwadi Party, and Sunil Paswan on Jan Adhikar Party (Loktantrik’s), Kalo Paswan and Shankar Brahamchari are fighting independently.
{{/usCountry}}This time, apart from JD(U) and RJD candidates, 10 others are fighting for the Raniganj assembly seat. While Parmanand Rishideo is contesting on Lok Jan Shakti Party’s ticket, Fuddan Paswan on Rashtriya Jansambhavna Party’s, Balkrishn Raj Choudhary on Apna Adhikar Party’s, Renu Kumari on Aam Janmat Party’s, Roshan Devi on All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen’s, Lakshmi Rishi on Bharatiya Momin Front’s, Virender Rishideo on Bhartiya Lokmat Rashtrwadi Party, and Sunil Paswan on Jan Adhikar Party (Loktantrik’s), Kalo Paswan and Shankar Brahamchari are fighting independently.
{{/usCountry}}As many as 174,506 men, 161,414 women and 16 people belonging to the third gender category will decide the future of the candidates in poll fray. They will cast their ballots across 259 polling stations.
The third and final phase of polling will be held on November 7 while the first and second rounds of voting took place on October 28 and November 3 respectively. The results of polls to the 243-seat assembly will be announced on November 10.