Final showdown in Bihar: Women voters, Seemanchal may hold key

Patna: With the end of the campaigning for the second phase of the Bihar assembly election, all eyes are now on the polling day. The polling will be held across 122 assembly constituencies of the state's 20 districts in this final phase on November 11. These districts are East Champaran, West Champaran, Sitamarhi, Sheohar, Madhubani, Supaul, Araria, Kishanganj, Purnia, Katihar, Bhagalpur, Banka, Jamui, Nawada, Gaya, Aurangabad, Jahanabad, Arwal, Kaimur and Rohtas.

Just as in the first phase of polling, women's votes will be a significant factor in this phase as well. The record voter turnout in the first phase of the election in 121 assembly constituencies, held on November 6, prompted top leaders across the political spectrum to appeal to women voters during the second phase of campaigning.

While CM Nitish Kumar continued to highlight several initiatives taken by his government for the empowerment of women, the opposition alliance's chief ministerial candidate Tejashwi Yadav sough to focus on his poll promise to transfer ₹30,000 in advance to the accounts of women across the state under the Mai Bahin scheme. As per the data of Election Commission of India, 37,013,556 voters, including 17,468,572 women voters will decide the fate of 1,302 candidates (1,165 male and 136 female) in the second phase of polling. Every assembly constituency has more than 200,000 voters. The highest number of 22 candidates each are in the fray in Chainpur, Sasaram and Gaya assembly seats, while the minimum number of five candidates each are contesting the election in Lauriya, Chanpatia, Raxaul, Triveniganj and Banamakhi.

The second phase of polling is politically significant for both the major players-the ruling NDA and the opposition Mahagathbandhan-in view of their performance in the 2020 assembly polls in this region. While the NDA bagged 67 seats in the 2020 assembly polls, the Mahagathbandhan's candidates emerged victorious on 50 seats. Asaduddin Owaisi-headed AIMIM had captured five seats in the state's Seemanchal region, hurting the prospects of the opposition camp.

In the second phase, among the opposition alliance members, the RJD has fielded 70 candidates, followed by the Congress (37) and the VIP (eight), while CPI (ML)(L), CPM and CPI are contesting five, four and two seats, respectively. The constituencies which are set to witness friendly fights among the Mahagathbandhan allies are Chainpur, Narkatiaganj and Sultanganj.

From the NDA camp, the BJP (52) leads the pack in terms of the number of contestants, followed by the JDU (45) and LJP (RV) (16), while the HAM and RLM have fielded their candidates in six and four constituencies, respectively. The NDA is depending on the vote-transfer capacity of its allies such as Union minister Chirag Paswan-headed LJP (RV), Union minister Jitan Ram Manjhi-headed HAM and former Union minister Upendra Kushwaha to the candidates fielded by the BJP and JDU in different constituencies. The NDA is aiming to woo Scheduled Castes and Kushwaha voters with the help of its three allies-the LJP (RV), HAM and RLM.

Several ministers, including Bijendra Yadav (Supaul), Sumit Kumar Singh (Chakai), Nitish ishra (Jamui), Jayant Raj (Amarpur), Neeraj Kumar Singh Bablu (Chhatapur) and Zama Khan (Chaipur), are seeking to enter the state assembly in this phase.