Bihar Battle: 121 seats vote in Ph-1 today; Tejashwi, Samrat in fray    

The stakes for both the NDA and the Mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) are high as Bihar goes to the the first phase of the Assembly elections on 121 of the 243 seats on Thursday. In the 2020 Assembly poll, it was an even-steven affair with the Mahagathbandhan winning 61 of the 121 seats and the NDA wresting the rest.

The alliance which scores over in the first phase will have an advantage in the journey to power. That is why the NDA's campaign had been intense in the 18 districts where the elections will be held. The candidates' fate is to be decided by over 3.5 crore voters, and since the polls are being held after Chhath festival -- an occasion when a huge migrant population returns to the state -- the voting percentage is expected to be higher. Leaders of both the alliances have appealed to migrant labourers to stay back and caste their votes. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been particular about the migrant workers and their votes.

Two possible CMs

There are at least two possible future chief ministers of Bihar whose fate is to be decided. Mahagathbandhan's CM's face Tejashwi Yadav is pitted against Satish Yadav of the BJP at the family citadel, Raghopur, in Vaishali. This time, Tejashwi also faces opposition from his elder brother Tej Pratap Yadav, who has fielded his own candidate and till the last day of campaigning was actively in Raghopur asking voters to reject his brother. The other "unannounced CM face" is deputy CM Samrat Choudhary, who is contesting from Tarapur in Munger district.

Though Tarapur has a substantial Kushwaha population, it has never been an easy seat for the NDA to win. Last time, the JD(U) managed to win by a slim margin. The RJD has fielded a candidate from the Baniya community, which traditionally sides with the BJP.

Several key faces of the NDA are among the 1,314 candidates contesting the 121 seats. Vijay Kumar Sinha, another Deputy CM, is seeking his fourth term from the Lakhisarai seat. Former BJP state president and Bihar Health Minister Mangal Pandey is contesting for the first time from Siwan. He is pitted against RJD's heavyweight and former Speaker Awadh Bihari Choudhary, In total, the future of 16 of ministers of the Nitish Kumar government are at stake.

The focus will be on sensitive districts like Siwan, where the son of notorious gangster late Md Shahahabuddin -- Osama Shahab -- a graduate from London, is contesting from Raghunathpur. In Mokma, JDU candidate Ananta Singh is pitted against Veena Devi, the wife of another gangster-turned politician, Surajbhan Singh. Ananata was arrested by the Patna police in connection with murder of RJD strongman Dular Chand Yadav.  The stakes are so high that Union Minister Lallan Singh was charged with intimidating opponents and an FIR was lodged.

While the battle is between the NDA and the Mahagathbandhan , the newly born Jan Suraaj battles it out to make space as a third alternative. Its founder Prashant Kishor on record has said either his party would get more than 150 of the 243 seats or below 10 seats. Incidentally, the first round is considered the tougher for the NDA as they lost so many traditional seats in 2020. The NDA will try to regain these seats while the Mahagathbandhan pins its hopes on retaining the present seats.

In the NDA, JD(U) has 57 candidates, BJP 48, LJP 13, RLM 2 and HAM one. In the Mahagathbandhan, there are 72 candidates from the RJD, the Congress will contest 24, CPI-L 14, VIP and CPI six seats each, CPM three and another ally, JPP, two seats.