Polling for first phase of Bihar Assembly Elections to be held tomorrow In 121 constituencies

In Bihar, polling will be held tomorrow for the first phase of Assembly elections in 121 constituencies spread across 18 districts.

Elaborate security arrangements have been made to ensure free, fair and peaceful polling.

Polling will begin at 7 a.m. and conclude at 6 p.m. However, due to security considerations, polling time has been curtailed to 5 p.m. in Simri Bakhtiyarpur, Mahishi, Tarapur, Munger, Jamalpur, and in 56 polling booths of the Suryagarha Assembly segment.

 

In this phase, the political fate of a total of 1,314 candidates will be decided by over 3.75 crore electors.

Among them are 122 women candidates, and one transgender candidate, Priti Kinnar, who is contesting on a Jan Suraj Party ticket from the Bhorey Assembly constituency in Gopalganj district.

From the NDA, JD(U) is contesting the highest number of 57 seats, followed by BJP on 48, LJP (Ram Vilas) on 14, and Rashtriya Lok Morcha on 2 seats.

In the Mahagathbandhan, RJD has fielded the highest number of 73 candidates, followed by 24 from Congress and 14 from CPI(ML) in the first phase.

 

 The newly floated Jan Suraj Party has fielded 119 candidates in this phase. In five seats, Rajapakar, Bachwara, Beldaur, Gaura Boram, and Bihar Sharif, the constituent parties of Mahagathbandhan Congress, RJD, VIP and CPI have fielded candidates against each other.

 

In the first phase of the Bihar Assembly elections, the political fortunes of 16 ministers from the Nitish Kumar-led government will be at stake, out of which 11 belong to the BJP.

From the BJP, Deputy Chief Ministers Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha are among the prominent candidates contesting from Tarapur and Lakhisarai constituencies, respectively.

 
The Chief Ministerial candidate of the Mahagathbandhan, Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, is contesting for the third time from the Raghopur Assembly constituency.

His estranged elder brother, Tej Pratap Yadav, is contesting from the Mahua constituency in Vaishali district as a candidate of his own party, the Jan Shakti Janta Dal.

 

Former Bihar BJP President and Health Minister Mangal Pandey is in the fray from the Siwan Assembly constituency. JD(U) nominee and seven-time MLA Shravan Kumar is seeking a record eighth term from Nalanda.

 

A close associate of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Water Resources Minister Vijay Kumar Choudhary, who has been elected six times earlier, is contesting from the Sarai Ranjan constituency in Samastipur district.

 

 Two noted artists have also entered electoral politics for the first time – folk singer Maithili Thakur from Alinagar, and Bhojpuri actor-singer Shatrughan Yadav, popularly known as Khesari Lal Yadav, from the Chapra constituency.