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 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, Prashant Kishore led Jan Suraaj Party, Janshakti Janata Dal led by Tej Pratap Yadav and others are also in the fray.
There are a total of 45 assembly constituencies in the northern part of Bihar which includes part of the West Champaran, East Champaran, Supaul, Madhubani, Sitamarhi and Seohar districts.
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 polls scheduled for Tuesday.
Bisfi: – Part of the Madhubani Lok Sabha constituency, Bifsi assembly seat is one among the key seats of the North Bihar region. The Mahagathbandhan here has fielded Asif Ahmad from RJD while the NDA’s candidate is incumbent MLA Haribhushan Thakur.
Thakur a three time MLA had defeated RJD’s Faiyaz Ahmad, the then incumbent MLA in the 2020 assembly polls by securing around 49 per cent of the votes polled. JSP has also fielded its candidate from the seat by giving ticket to Sanjay Kumar Mishra.
The JSP on the seat has given ticket to Sanjay Kumar Mishra, with AAP and JJD fielding Arvind Kumar Mishra and Sonu Kumar respectively.
Govindganj: – Another important seat in the north Bihar region under the second phase is Govindganj assembly constituency. Part of the Purvi Champaran Lok Sabha constituency, Govindganj is witnessing an intense electoral fight between the NDA’s, Mahagathbandhan’s, JJD’s and JSP’s candidate.
The NDA’s candidate on the seat is Raju Tiwari, the state president of the LJP-R who is up against INC’s Shashi Bhushan Rai. Meanwhile debutant parties like the JJD and the JSP have fielded Ashutosh Kumar and Krishnakant Mishra respectively from the seat.
Electoral results in the previous assembly polls on the seat have been in the favour of the NDA alliance in the past 20 years with JDU’s candidate Meena Dwivedi emerging victorious thrice in 2005 and 2010, followed by Raju Tiwari who won the seat in 2015 and Sunil Mani Tiwari of the BJP who registered a win in the last assembly polls on the seat.
Dhaka: – The assembly constituency of Dhaka falls under the Sheohar Lok Sabha constituency and considered as one of the key seat in the region. The electoral contest this time on the seat is between the NDA, Mahagathbandhan, JSP and the AIMIM who has given ticket to Rana Ranjit Singh.
Mahagathbandhan on the seat has once again fielded Faisal Rahman, the former MLA who was a runner up in the last assembly polls. The BJP too has fielded the incumbent MLA Pawan Kumar Jaiswal from the assembly seats. The JSP on the other hand has given a ticket to Lal Babu Prasad.
Bettiah: – Bettiah is another high-profile seat in the ongoing assembly polls. Part of the West Champaran district, the assembly seat has been a stronghold of the BJP with victories in all assembly poll since 2000 barring the 2015 elections when it was won by the INC candidate Madan Mohan Tiwari.
The Mahagathbandhan this time has fielded Wasi Ahmad of the INC with JSP giving ticket to Anil Kumar Singh against NDA’s candidate Renu Devi and other independent candidates.
Devi, the former deputy CM and five time MLA had defeated Madan Mohan Tiwari by securing over 52 per cent votes in the last assembly polls held in 2020.
Madhubani: – Part of the Madhubani Lok Sabha constituency, the assembly constituency of Madhubani is another key seat in the region. The seat was gained by the RJD from the BJP in the assembly polls of 2015, retaining it in the 2020 assembly polls as well.
The Mahagathbandhan candidate from the seat is incumbent MLA Samir Kumar Mahaseth with NDA’s Madhav Anand and JSP’s Anil Kumar Mishra also in the fray. Meanwhile, the AIMIM has fielded Rashid Khalil from the assembly constituency.
Mahasesth, a two term MLA from RJD had defeated VIP’s candidate by a margin of around 7000 votes in the 2020 assembly polls. VIP back then was a part of the NDA alliance.
Sitamarhi: – Another key seat of the north Bihar region is Sitamarhi assembly constituency where the Mahagathbandhan and the NDA is locked in a tight electoral contest with BSP’s candidate and others also in the fray.
The assembly constituency was last won by the NDA with BJP’s candidate Mithilesh Kumar defeating Sunil Kumar of the RJD in the 2020 assembly constituency. The NDA however this time has fielded Sunil Kumar Pintu from the assembly constituency.
The Mahagathbandhan’s candidate on the seat is Sunil Kumar, a former MLA from the seat.
Narkatiyaganj: – The Narkatiyaganj assembly constituency of the West Champaran district is another high-profile seat of the region. The assembly constituency is part of the Valmiki Nagar Lok Sabha constituency and is witnessing an intense electoral battle.
The assembly seat was last won by the NDA’s candidate with BJP’s Rashmi Verma registering a victory over INC’s candidate Vinay Verma in the 2020 polls.
The NDA this time has fielded a fresh candidate from the assembly constituency by nominating Sanjay Pandey. The Mahagathbandhan parties on the other side is locked in an alleged friendly fight with INC and RJD both nominating their candidates from the seat.
The INC this time has fielded Shaswat Kedar from the seat against the NDA and the RJD who has fielded Deepak Yadav. The BSP’s candidate on the assembly constituency is MD. Motiur Rahman while the JSP has fielded Md. Wasiullah. The Nationalist Congress Party’s (NCP) candidate on the assembly seat is Md. Rashid Azim.
Notably, polling held on 121 assembly constituency of the state on November 6. The result for the state assembly polls will be announced on November 14.
