Bihar Election 2020: Katoria will see a contest between RJD and BJP again

The assembly election in Katoria, which is largely rural with 30% population belonging to Scheduled Tribes, will be held in the first of the three phases of the Bihar Assembly Election 2020 on October 28.

One of the 243 constituencies in the legislative assembly of Bihar, Katoria is a part of the Banka Lok Sabha constituency and is reserved for candidates of Scheduled Tribes. Located in the eastern state’s Banka district, Katoria Vidhan Sabha constituency is hit by Maoist violence.

The RJD has once again fielded Sweety Sima Hembram against Nikki Hembrom of the BJP from the Katoria (ST) assembly constituency in the Bihar assembly elections this year. (Facebook/ Sweety Sima Hembram)

Katoria assembly segment has a sizeable population of tribal and Scheduled Caste voters. The assembly election in Katoria, which is largely rural with 30% population belonging to Scheduled Tribes, will be held in the first of the three phases of the Bihar Assembly Election 2020 on October 28.

Katoria has been electing candidates from different parties, including the Congress, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), in the state assembly elections since 1952. In the last Bihar assembly election in 2015, RJD’s Sweety Sima Hembram won the Katoria (ST) constituency and BJP’s Nikki Hembram was the runner-up. Sweety Sima Hembram polled 41.35% votes and Nikki Hembram polled 33.55% votes in the Bihar Election 2015.

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Voting in the Katoria assembly seat will begin at 7am and will be extended by an hour until 6pm, except in the Left-Wing Extremism affected areas. The counting of votes will be held on November 10 and the result will also be declared on the same day.

Polling for Bihar assembly elections will be held in three phases on October 28, November 3 and November 7, followed by counting of votes on November 10. In the first phase on October 28, voting will be conducted in 71 assembly constituencies and the second-phase voting on November 3 will see polling on 94 seats. The third phase of voting on November 7 will cover 78 assembly seats.

Lalu Prasad Yadav’s RJD had emerged as the single largest party in the 2015 elections with 80 seats, chief minister Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal(United) won 71 seats and the BJP got 53 seats. The JD(U) had fought the last Bihar assembly elections with the RJD. Kumar, however, cut his ties with the RJD following a rift and re-joined the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

The BJP is fighting these elections along with the JD(U); the Congress has joined hands with the RJD and three other Left parties to form the Mahagathbandhan or Grand Alliance to challenge the NDA. The LJP, which is being helmed by Chirag Paswan, will go it alone this time in the Bihar assembly elections.