E-Paper
Bihar election 2020: BJP and RJD in direct contest in Sikti seat
The RJD has fielded Shatrughan Mandal from the seat against sitting MLA Vijay Mandal of BJP.
Situated on the Indo-Nepal border, Sikti assembly constituency, situated in Araria district, has been a conduit of smuggling. It comes under the Araria Lok Sabha constituency.
The largely rural seat is one of the 78 seats that are going to polls in the third and final phase of the Bihar assembly elections on November 7. The seat will witness a direct fight between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD).
The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), part of Mahagathbandhan (grand alliance), has fielded Shatrughan Mandal from here, whereas sitting MLA Vijay Mandal will defend the seat for BJP and National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
The seat is crucial as it is one of the 20 constituencies where BJP and RJD are in a direct contest in the third phase of Bihar assembly elections.
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In 2015, when the Janata Dal (United) JDU was in an alliance with the RJD, BJP’s Vijay Mandal defeated JD(U) candidate Shatrughan Prasad Suman by 8,106 votes but this time when BJP and JD(U) are in an alliance, the BJP is aiming to consolidate the votes held by the JD(U) and repeat its 2015 election performance.
The BJP is attempting to mark its presence in the Araria region which is evident as Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed a rally in Forbesganj that falls under the Araria district. In the rally, PM Modi said, “The NDA has given the poor their right to vote in the real sense. All social categories of Bihar have the right to choose a leader of their choice.”
The seat has a larger presence of Yadav and Muslim voters and RJD is attempting to garner those votes as they have been the traditional voter base of the party.
As per the voter list of 2019, there are 277862 electorates and 287 polling stations in this constituency. Voter turnout was 68.68% in 2019 Lok Sabha elections whereas it was 63.98% in the 2015 assembly elections. The counting of the polls will take place on November 10.
