122 seats up for grabs as Bihar votes in second & final phase of poll today

The fate of 1,302 candidates, including over six ministers in the Nitish Kumar government, will be sealed on Tuesday with 3.70 crore voters eligible to exercise their franchise across 122 Assembly segments in the second and final phase of the high-stakes Bihar poll.

A day before the poll, nervousness appears to have gripped political parties.

Throughout the two-month campaign, RJD leader and Mahagathbandhan’s CM face Tejashwi Yadav refused to join Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi in alleging “vote chori” or cast aspersions on the Election Commission.

However, on Monday, Tejashwi hurriedly called a press conference and questioned several measures of the EC. “Why are all forces called for the election duty from BJP-ruled states,” asked Tejashwi, alleging that he had been told by officials that there was a plan to “slow down” the voting process in booths where the Mahagathbandhan was strong.

Incidentally, 14,560 police personnel from Gujarat, UP and other BJP-ruled states have been deputed in polling booths and strongrooms.

Tejashwi alleged that Home Minister Amit Shah stayed in a posh hotel in Patna and got the CCTV dysfunctional. “Shah called several officials to his hotel,” Tejashwi said, alleging that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had this time publicly met scamsters and campaigned for gangsters-turned-politicians such as Anant Singh and Hulas Pandey.

Tejashwi, however, claimed that the Mahagathbandhan would win and he would become the next CM. “I will take oath on November 18,” he said.

The NDA dismissed Tejashwi’s charges stating that he had virtually conceded defeat even before the final round of polling.

“Tejashwi is frustrated as he knows that people of Bihar are overwhelmingly voting for Nitish Kumar. The masses have rejected his deceptive promises,” said state JD(U) president Umesh Kushwaha.

With 122 seats at stake, this is the make-or-break round for both alliances. After the first round, both the NDA and the Mahagathbandhan had claimed that they would win a majority of the 121 seats.

In the 2020 Assembly poll, the Mahagathbandhan had done well in the seats which went to the polls on November 6, winning 61 of these and evicting the NDA from its strongholds such as Buxar and Kaimur. However, it had “slipped” in the remaining 122 seats. It ended with just 110 of the 243 seats while the NDA had won 125.

The elections in Seemanchal are important for the Mahagathbandhan where it faces a challenge from the AIMIM. In 2020, the AIMIM had won five seats in Seemanchal, leaving its footprint in Bihar for the first time. Four of the five MLAs later defected to RJD.

This time, the AIMIM had asked for six seats to be a part of the Mahagathbandhan, but Tejashwi turned it down. The AIMIM has fielded 25 candidates. At places where there is a substantial Muslim vote, it is giving sleepless nights to Mahagathbandhan candidates.

The BJP also faces the challenge of reclaiming seats it has been losing for over a decade such as Bhagalpur, Madhubani and several others.