As the Lok Sabha election in Bihar enters its fifth phase, stakes are high for both the BJP and the RJD in the five constituencies that go to polls on May 6.
There are 82 candidates in the fray in Muzaffarpur, Sitamarhi, Saran, Madhubani and Hajipur in this phase.
The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) had done well on these seats during the 2015 assembly polls winning 18 out of the 31, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) bagged eight. The BJP’s alliance partner, the Janata Dal(United) won on only three. However, in 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the NDA had done well as it got all the five seats and the BJP won three of them.
Read: Full coverage of Lok Sabha elections 2019
For the BJP-JD(U)-LJP led National Democratic Alliance in Bihar, the next three phases of the election are going to be the make or break rounds as the combine is faced with the tall task of retaining the 21 seats in these areas it had won in 2014 elections.
The Grand Alliance or Mahagathbandhan had not won a single seat in these constituencies that year.
{{/usCountry}}The Grand Alliance or Mahagathbandhan had not won a single seat in these constituencies that year.
{{/usCountry}}Poll observers say the NDA in alliance with Lok Janshakti Party and Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP) had managed to perform well in 2014 largely because of the “Modi wave” and also the division of votes in constituencies mainly in north Bihar as JD(U) led by chief minister Nitish Kumar and RJD-Congress had fought separately.
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Of the five constituencies going to poll in the fifth phase, all eyes are on the battle royal in Saran, 70km north-west of Patna, simply because the father-in-law of Lalu Prasad’s eldest son Tej Pratap Yadav, Chandrika Rai, and former Union minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy are in the electoral fray.
Saran was represented by Lalu Prasad in 2009 but in 2014, Rudy defeated his wife Rabri Devi after the RJD leader was debarred from contesting the polls. This year’s election has become all the more interesting as Tej Pratap had initially revolted against his father-in-law and announced to campaign against him.
Another constituency which will see a keen battle is Hajipur. Although the Lok Janshakti Party chief’s and Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan is not contesting this time, he faces a big test in his bastion Hajipur from where his brother Pashupati Paras is contesting. Shiv Chandra Ram of the RJD is also in the field.
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Paswan, barring 1984, 1991, and 2009, has been representing this constituency since 1977.
In Madhubani, the BJP has fielded Ashok Yadav, the son of veteran parliamentarian and sitting MP Hukumdev Narayan Yadav. The internal fight in the grand alliance also came to the fore at Madhubani, where former Union and state minister Shakeel Ahmed is contesting as an Independent, queering the pitch of GA candidate.
The BJP’s alliance partner JD(U) is contesting the lone Sitamarhi seat in this phase and the party has made Sunil Kumar Pintu, a former BJP minister, as its candidate.
Ajay Nishad of the BJP and Vikassheel Insan Party’s (VIP’s) Raj Bhushan Chowdhary are in the field in Muzaffarpur, where the BJP faces competition from the regional party as the constituency is dominated by Nishads and upper caste Bhumihars.
Bihar, which has 40 parliamentary constituencies, will vote in all the seven phases of the Lok Sabha election. In the sixth phase on May 12, eight seats will poll and the last phase will also see polling on eight seats on May 19.
In the fourth phase, allegations of bogus voting and complaints of electronic voting machine (EVM) malfunction marred voting in Bihar where five constituencies went to the polls last Monday. The state recorded a turnout of 58.92%.
The votes will be counted on May 23.