New Delhi: As electors in Bihar ready to exercise their franchise on 122 remaining seats of the state assembly polls on November 11, there are many high-profile seats which will go to poll under second phase of the high-stake assembly elections.
The electoral contest in the assembly polls lies mainly between the candidates of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) which consist of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Janata Dal (United) – (JDU), Lok Janshakti Party (Ramvilas) – (LJP-R), Hindusthan Awami Morcha (Secular)- (HAM-S) and Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM) and the Mahagathbandhan comprises of the Indian National Congress (INC), Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Vikasheel Insaan Party (VIP) and the left parties including the CPI, CPI (M), and CPI (ML).
Other than the two major alliances Assauddin Owaisi led All Indian Majlis-e-Ittahadul-Muslimeen (AIMIM), Prashant Kishore led Jan Suraaj Party (JSP), Janshakti Janata Dal (JJD), led by Tej Pratap Yadav and others are also in the fray.
The Purnia division or the Seemanchal region of the state has 24 assembly seats which will hold polls on Tuesday. There are many high-profile seats in the region witnessing intense electoral contest as parties and their leaders rallying behind their candidates for the last leg of the ongoing polls.
Amour: – The Amour assembly seat is one of the most high-profile seats of the Seemanchal region with candidates from NDA, Mahagathbandhan, AIMIM and JSP locked in an intense contest unfolding in the constituency. Other than the aforesaid parties, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) have also fielded their candidates.
In the previous assembly polls, the constituency was won by Aktharul Iman of the AIMIM. Iman who is also the state president of the AIMIM this time is fighting the contest against Mahagathbandhan’s candidate Abdul Zalil Mastan of the INC and NDA’s candidate Saba Zafar.
Both Zafar and Mastan had secured victories from the assembly seats in 2010 and 2015 respectively. The JSP on the seat has fielded Afroz Alam.
Baisi: – Baisi is another hot seat of the Seemanchal region where the contest lies between the Mahagathbandhan’s candidate Abdus Subhan, NDA’s Vinod Yadav, JSP’s Md. Shahnawaz Alam and others.
Here the AIMIM has fielded Ghulam Sarvar who contested the seat independently in 2020. The seat was last won by the AIMIM whose MLA Syed Ruknuddin Ahmad later switched to the RJD. Notably both Amour and Baisi are part of the Kishanganj Lok Sabha constituency, the only Muslim majority Lok Sabha seat of the state.
Purnia: – Part of the Purnia Lok Sabha constituency, the Purnia assembly seats is also one of the key seats of the Seemanchal region. Once a Congress and then Communist stronghold, the assembly seat in recent year is with the NDA alliance with BJP’s candidate securing victories since 2000.
The NDA’s has handed over ticket to the incumbent MLA Vinod Kumar Khemka while the Mahagathbandhan has fielded Jitendra Kumar of the INC. The JSP’s candidate from the seat is Santosh Kumar Singh with AAP and BSP also fielding their candidates Aditya Lal and Rajiv Kumar Roy respectively from the assembly constituency.
Katihar: – Another hot-seat of the region is the Katihar assembly seat where the electoral contest is between the NDA’s Tar Kishore Prasad, a four-time MLA from the BJP and Saurabh Agarwal of the VIP.
The JSP here has fielded Dr. Gazi Sharique with the AAP nominating Rajesh Gurnami from the seat. The seat has been a stronghold of the BJP since 2005 when the BJP gained it from the RJD.
Jokihat: – The Jokihat assembly constituency is another seat to watch out in Seemanchal. The seat this time is witnessing an intense electoral contest with both the AIMIM and JSP fielding strong candidates along with the two major alliances.
The JSP for the assembly seat has named former MP Sarfaraz Alam as its candidate. Alam a former leader of the RJD had contested the seat in the previous assembly polls on RJD’s ticket and was runner up to AIMIM’s Shahnawaz Alam, the Mahagathbandhan’s candidate this time from RJD.
The AIMIM who emerged victorious last time has fielded Md. Murshid Alam while the NDA’s candidate from the assembly seat is Manjar Alam of the JDU.
Polling for the 121 seats of the assembly was done on November 6 with a record turnout of voters (65.08). The results for the assembly polls will be announced on November 14.
