With voting in the remaining 57 constituencies in Bihar ending on Thursday, curtains came down on the Assembly election, spread over five phases.
With Thursday’s polling, fates of 827 candidates, including former ministers Abdul Bari Siddiqui, Nitish Mishra, Lalu’s private secretary Bhola Yadav and Ram Vilas Paswan’s son-in-law Mrinal have been sealed.
According to Election Commission sources, 60 per cent of the electorate of total 1.5 crore voters exercised their franchise in the nine districts on Thursday.
With both the NDA and the Grand Alliance claiming two-thirds majority by the end of fourth phase, the fifth and last phase became all the more important as the 57 constituencies in Seemanchal and Mithilanchal will eventually decide who will rule Bihar.
These two zones in north and north-eastern Bihar have a sizeable section of Muslims and Yadavs. The two dominant groups, along with the extremely backward classes (EBCs), mostly migrant workers, could tilt the scale either way.
All eyes were on the last phase precisely because it was in this concluding segment where All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi fielded his candidates in Seemanchal comprising four districts of Purnia, Araria, Katihar and Kishanganj.
At the same time, expelled RJD MP Pappu Yadav, who floated his outfit Jan Adhikar Party (JAP) on the poll eve, fielded his nominees from Kosi belt – Saharsa, Supaul and Madhepura, supposedly his fiefdom, in large numbers.
It is significant to watch how these two players will eat into the Muslim-Yadav vote bank of Lalu-Nitish’s Grand Alliance.
On the other hand, the BJP, through its advertisements on cow/beef, has already tried to polarise the voters. The move was censured by the Election Commission.
On November 8, the counting day, everyone will know whether such emotive issues worked for the BJP or not. The day will also tell whether Nitish can make a hat-trick.
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