Bihar polls: Nitish has the edge, says Bhupendra Chaubey

The third phase of Bihar elections saw a voter turnout of 53.3 percent, which is higher than 2010 assembly polls and 2014 Lok Sabha poll. Once again women voters outnumbered their male counterparts. The fourth round of polling will take place on November 1.

Bhupendra Chaubey, the national affairs editor of CNN-IBN, says the Saffron combine has been hit by a jam of sorts. The BJP poll strategists feel the first three phases haven't gone down well for them, though it now hopes to uplift itself for the remaining leg of the polls, he says. The BJP had thought that the Yadavs will vote in favour of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. But the muslims as well as the Yadavs are more inclined towards Lalu Prasad Yadav.

But this Bihar polls is a unique one. Bhaubey says in every election, there is a hero and a villain. Neither Modi nor Nitish Kumar is being treated as the villain here. He says there is no doubt that Modi continues to remain the most popular politician in Bihar and if this was the Lok Sabha polls, then there is no doubt that the masses would have voted for him. On the other hand, even the worst possible critic of Nitish doesn't have a bad thing to say about him, which goes a long way to show what he has accomplished in Bihar.

"The outcome in Bihar polls may or may not be a referendum on the Modi government at the Centre, but it is definitely a referendum on Nitish. That is the way Nitish has pitched it," Chaubey told CNBC-TV18. And at this juncture, Nitish Kumar most definitely has the edge, he adds.