Patna wears an air of suppressed excitement. Hotels are full (mainly occupied by media representatives and political leaders); police and paramilitary forces are doing their rounds, silently watchful; and the marigold garland market is doing brisk business.
Counting for the assembly elections will start at 8 am tomorrow for the most eagerly-awaited result in the recent history of the state.
Contenders are already petitioning their favoured deities. Truckfulls of havan samagri began trundling into the driveway at health engineering minister Ashwani Choubey’s residence.
| CURRENT PARTY POSITION | |
| Total seats: 243 | |
| JD(U) | 88 |
| BJP | 55 |
| RJD | 54 More From This Section |
| Congress | 10 |
| BSP | 5 |
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Transport Minister RN Singh has locked himslef up in his puja room reciting scriptures — he is expected to stop only after the results have been declared.
At former Chief Minister Lalu Prasad’s Aney Marg home, there is little hubbub, and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) supremo is systematically working the phones, getting the latest reports from his partymen across the state.
Sitting ministers are praying harder than others because some of them are nervous: Bijender Yadav (Irrigation), Renu Devi (Culture and Youth Affairs), Brishen Patel (Rural Works Department) and Anil Kumar (Information Technology) are all sitting ministers and are all tense. The spotlight is also on those who have been powerful and are now threatened with the prospect of being unseated: for instance, mafia don Pappu Yadav’s wife Ranjeeta Ranjan who is contesting on a Congress I nomination from Saharsa.
Regionally, the rule of thumb appears to be: regions where the Janata Dal United-Bharatiya Janata Party government has worked, the lliance will be rewarded. Where there is no development, it would lose. In the Kosi area which contributes 50 to 60 seats to the 243-member assembly, the government is likely to face a litmus test. The region was flooded in 2008 and the government’s rehabilitation plans have left people dissatisfied.
Nor are conditions conducive in North Bihar for the ruling alliance — there was caste consolidation in 2005 against the Yadav-predominant RJD of Lalu Prasad. This time, there is some disenchantment with the Nitish Kumar government on issues of land redistribution. A Rajput leader from this region, Raghuvansh Prasad Singh of Vaishali, is leading the anti-Nitish Kumar sentiment.
But in Darbhanga, Samastipur, Madhubani and Gaya where roads have been four-laned on a large scale, conditions are better for the ruling combine. In Bhojpur, Rohtas, Aurangabad and Kaimoor the Congress could make inroads.
Nitish Kumar has already spelt out his agenda if he was to return to power: coal linkage; power supply, revival of sugar mills and more roads. Also on the anvil is a law to amend the anti corruption law – the properties of those convicted under this law will be confiscated and the state will start schools on it. Massive overhaul of the Public Distribution System – which is currently in the hands of the upper castes – is also on the cards. Kumar has said despite the changes in the education administration, 7.5 lakh children are still outside the school systems and some way has to be found to reintegrate them.
As Bihar holds its breath, there are many who will heave a sigh of relief when the results are made public after a six-phase poll: including an MLA who has vowed to keep standing on one leg till he is declared victorious. And if he loses? Well, no one knows what he would do.