Bihar election Phase 1 on November 6: Key contests, star candidates and seats to watch

In the first phase, over 3.75 crore voters will decide the fate of 1,314 candidates, including RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav (L) and Deputy CM Samrat Choudhary.

After weeks of high voltage campaigning, the Bihar election battle is set to kick off on November 6 with 121 constituencies spread across 18 districts voting in the first phase. The second phase will be held on November 11, followed by the much-anticipated counting of votes on November 14.

Bihar is witnessing a two-way clash between the NDA comprising parties like BJP, JD(U), LJP (RV) and HAM, and the Mahagathbandhan of RJD, Congress and Left Parties. Prashant Kishor's Jan Suraaj, which is contesting all 243 constituencies in its maiden electoral battle, is looking to queer the pitch and upset either of the two factions in the two-phase polls.

All eyes on Round I

In the first phase, over 3.75 crore voters will decide the fate of 1,314 candidates, including heavyweights such as RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, and Deputy Chief Ministers Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha. Polling will be held from 7 am to 6 pm. However, voting will conclude at 5 pm in select constituencies such as Simri Bakhtiyarpur, Mahishi, Tarapur, Munger, Jamalpur, and 56 booths in Suryagarha due to security concerns.

Of the 16 ministers contesting in this phase, 11 are from the BJP and 5 from the JD(U).

The campaigning for the first phase ended on Tuesday, with star campaigners and senior leaders from both the NDA and the Mahagathbandhan making a final push to woo voters.

Key battlegrounds

Several high-profile constituencies will go to polls in the first phase of the Bihar election. In Tarapur (Munger), Deputy CM Samrat Choudhary (BJP) faces RJD’s Arun Kumar. Meanwhile, Raghopur, which is a traditional RJD bastion, will witness Tejashwi defending his seat against BJP’s Satish Kumar Yadav and Jan Suraaj’s Chanchal Singh.

Tej Pratap Yadav (estranged son of Lalu Prasad) of the Janshakti Janata Dal is locked in a triangular fight against RJD’s Mukesh Kumar Raushan and LJP’s Sanjay Singh in Mahua. On the other hand, Alinagar will see a direct contest between BJP’s Maithili Thakur and RJD’s Vinod Mishra. In Hasanpur, JD(U)’s Raj Kumar Ray faces RJD’s Mala Pushpam in a rematch of 2020.

Core campaigning issues

The high-voltage campaign, which ended on Tuesday evening, witnessed acrimonious exchanges, personal attacks and divisive rhetoric.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi kick-started his campaign with a rally at Samastipur, where he also visited the ancestral house of Bharat Ratna Karpoori Thakur. He shared the stage with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, the JD(U) president, who vies with arch-rival Lalu Prasad, the RJD president, in claiming to be the true ideological heir to the EBC (extremely backwards classes) icon.

The PM also pulled no punches in charging the RJD-Congress combine, the two largest constituents of the INDIA bloc, with "protecting infiltrators" and cautioned the people against "a return of jungle raj".

His remark that Congress agreed to name Lalu Prasad’s son Tejashwi Yadav as the INDIA bloc's CM candidate only when RJD put a "katta" on its head drew flak from both the Mahagathbandhan allies, who alleged that the language was unbecoming of a Prime Minister.

Meanwhile, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi accused the PM of trying to enact a "drama" during the Chhath festival, adding that Modi will "even dance on stage" for votes. According to Gandhi, PM Modi was reportedly to take a dip in the Yamuna, which was too polluted for a bath, and backtracked when it came to light that a puddle had been created at the spot with "clean, piped water". The remarks drew heavy backlash from BJP leaders, including Amit Shah.

PM Modi later alleged that Gandhi was "fond of visiting places abroad but never got the time to visit Ram temple in Ayodhya.

Meanwhile, the absence of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar from the PM's rallies and roadshow over the last few days provided much cannon fodder to the opposition, which has been claiming that the BJP was done with playing second fiddle to the JD(U) chief.

Just before the campaign end of the first phase of the Bihar Assembly elections, Tejashwi also made several major announcements for women, farmers, and government employees.

Unemployment, outmigration, corruption and the decline of education and healthcare dominated the discourse.

Results of Bihar election 2020

The 121 constituencies going to polls in the first phase witnessed a closely contested battle between the NDA and the Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance) in the 2020 election.

The NDA won around 59 of these 121 seats. The Mahagathbandhan bagged approximately 61 seats, while the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), which contested separately, won one seat (Matihani).

Regions such as Darbhanga, Muzaffarpur, Patna, and Begusarai witnessed a strong BJP presence. Meanwhile, the JD(U), despite a reduced overall seat count, retained core constituencies such as the Nalanda, Madhepura, Saharsa, and Khagaria belts.

The Left parties, especially the CPI(ML)L, made notable gains in Bhojpur, Arrah, and neighbouring districts, consolidating their traditional base.

Factors such as MLAs' deaths, disqualifications, defections, and subsequent bypolls also led to shifts in a few constituencies over the years.