Five of Bihar’s 40 seats would go to the polls in the second phase of Lok Sabha elections on Thursday. Over 86 lakh people are eligible to vote while 68 candidates are in the fray in Kishanganj, Bhagalpur, Purnea, Katihar and Banka seats.
The Congress, which is contesting the polls in alliance with the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), has focused on three of the five seats. Rahul Gandhi, the Congress chief, addressed two rallies in Purnea and Katihar in the past few months. The Janata Dal (United), which contested the last election on its own and is now in alliance with the BJP, won Purnea in 2014. The Congress and RJD managed to get Kishanganj, Bhagalpur and Banka seats.
Officials said as many as 32,000 security personnel have been deployed for the polling.
DM Diwakar, a poll expert, said since the five constituencies are dominated by Muslims there were chances that “secular votes” would get consolidated.