 "Amid Maoist threat, phase-II poll in Bihar to see fierce battle")
On September 9, when the Election Commission announced dates for the Bihar Assembly elections, it kept less number of seats in the second phase. The logic: Ensuring maximum concentration of security forces in the Maoist-infected districts bordering Jharkhand. The Magadh region, comprising the six districts Jehanabad, Gaya, Kaimur, Aurangabad, Arwal and Rohtas, or 32 Assembly seats, is going to polls on Friday.
Among these districts, Jehanabad, Gaya and Aurangabad are considered to be the most left-wing extremists-affected districts in Bihar and among 26 others in India. The ultras have given a call to boycott the elections in these districts, but the administration feels the presence of a large posse of security personnel (around 100,000) will ensure smooth polling in the rural areas. The Election Commission has cut the voting period by two hours on 11 seats and by one on 12 seats due to Maoist threats.
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The biggest challenge, however, before the state administration is to get voters to polling stations, as the average polling percentage in the last Assembly elections was a mere 52 per cent. The lowest (47.5 per cent) was recorded in Imamganj constituency in Gaya, where former Bihar chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi is giving a tough fight to five-time legislator and Bihar Assembly Speaker Uday Narayan Chaudhary of the Janata Dal (United) or JD (U). The low polling percentage had resulted in a close contest in the 2010 Assembly elections, with Chaudhary pulling a win by mere 1,211 votes over his Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) rival. This time, too, the poll battle is expected to be more serious at Imamganj, a reserved seat.
In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, both Manjhi and Chaudhary had fought elections on JD(U) tickets from different locations, but lost to the candidates of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). Manjhi, after falling out with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, formed his own party and subsequently joined the National Democratic Alliance.
Manjhi is also contesting from his previous Makhdumpur seat (reserved) in Jehanabad district, which had once witnessed brutal clashes between the lower castes and the Ranbir Sena in the late 90s. Manjhi is getting a tough fight from RJD's Subedar Das. "Though he has not performed much in the last five years, many are still voting for him. He is getting votes of his community Mahadalits and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s upper caste because of his association with the BJP. But I am voting for RJD's candidate," says Hirday Yadav, a milkman in Makhdumpur.
Another name secretly doing the rounds for the BJP's chief ministerial candidate is of Prem Kumar, who is contesting from Gaya (Town) seat. Though this seat is considered to be the BJP's stronghold, locals say Kumar is facing a tough battle here.
Magadh has traditionally voted for either the JD(U) or the RJD. In the 2010 Assembly elections, the JD(U)-BJP alliance won 27 out of 32 seats.
The JD(U) alone recorded victory on 18 seats and the BJP got nine seats. The RJD won two the independents registered victory on the remaining three seats. If people choose to exercise their rights along caste lines, it might upset the arithmetic for the BJP. It is believed that Other Backward Classes, Economically Backward Castes and Mahadalits are more in number than the upper castes, who support the BJP. In the last Assembly elections, the winning margin was less than 5,000 votes on 10 seats.
But if people decide to continue with the party they preferred in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP stands a better chance. It had won nine out of 10 seats, with 40.7 per cent votes. The NDA's has been campaigning more intensely on the ground, with various leaders flying to various constituencies in helicopters. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has addressed at least two big rallies in the region. On the other hand, Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad, who are also travelling in helicopters, are focusing more on smaller meetings. However, their alliance is not going down well with some voters in the state.
"People are already considering for voting for the grand alliance because those musclemen who give the RJD a bad name in the past have already left the party. Also, we have told the RJD that there will be no compromise on the issues of development and law and order in the state," says Ravinder Singh, JD(U)'s general secretary, with a hope that Prasad's so-called negative image will not hurt their political fortunes.
