Stakes are high for both Janata Dal (United), currently in power in Bihar, and opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) as five of Bihar’s Lok Sabha constituencies — Araria, Jhanjharpur, Supaul, Madhepura and Khagaria — go to polls on April 23. The state has 40 seats, with polling in each of the seven phases.
Out of the 25 assembly seats in the five districts, the JD (U) had won on 14 in 2015 assembly elections and the RJD, six.
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JD (U) will contest three seats, while National Democratic Alliance partners Bharatiya Janata Party and Lok Janshakti Party will contest the remaining two. In Madhepura, the party’s former national president Sharad Yadav will contest on an RJD ticket.
“This region will assess the strength of JD (U) and RJD. For chief minister Nitish Kumar, it will also test whether Economically Backward Classes are still with him,” said Professor Vijay Kumar of Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar Bihar University, Muzaffarpur.