New Delhi: As polling is underway on the 122 seats of the state assembly in phase two, there are many high-profile seats witnessing intense electoral contests.
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 (AIMIM), Prashant Kishore led Jan Suraaj Party(JSP), Janshakti Janata Dal (JJD)led by Tej Pratap Yadav, Rahstriya Lok Janshakti Party (RLJP), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and others are also in the fray.
There are a total of 52 assembly constituencies in the southern region of the state including the Bhagalpur, Banka, Nawada, Jamui, Aurangabad, Arwal, Jehanabad, Kaimur and Rohtas districts.
Here are the top assembly constituencies holding polls today: –
Kahalgaon: – The Kahalgaon assembly constituency is a key seat of the Bhagalpur belt. A traditionally stronghold of the INC, the assembly seat in the last two decades has been won twice by the INC candidate with NDA candidates clinching victories in 2005 and 2020 assembly polls.
The assembly constituency in the 2025 election witnessing an intense electoral contest with both RJD and INC fielding their candidates. RJD has fielded Rajnish Bharti while the INC’s candidate from the seat is Pravin Kumar Kushwaha.
The NDA on the other hand has fielded JDU’s Subhanand Mukesh from the assembly constituency. The seat was last won by BJP’s Pawan Kumar Yadav who is too in the fray as an independent candidate. Yadav had defeated Subhanand Mukesh the then INC’s candidate in the 2020 polls. Meanwhile the JSP has given ticket to Rajiv Singh.
Banka: – The Banka assembly constituency is another seat where candidates from several parties are locked in a fierce electoral contest. Here the NDA’s candidate is Ram Narayan Mandal, a two time MLA who is up against Mahagathbandhan’s candidate Sanjay Kumar, a leader of the CPI. The JSP here has given ticket to Kaushal Kumar Singh.
BSP, RLJP and Aam Aadmi Party – AAP have also fielded their candidates. RLJP candidate from the seat is Kundan Kumar Roy while BSP has fielded Vinod Pandit. Rajnish Kumar Chaudhary is in the fray from AAP.
Kargahar: – The Karaghar seat of Rohtas is yet another seat to watch out for in the assembly polls where the electoral battle is between the INC, CPI, BSP, JSP and JDU.
In Kargahar, INC candidate and incumbent MLA Santosh Kumar Mishra is up against CPI’s candidate from the seat Mahendra Prasad Gupta turning the contest into another alleged friendly fight. The NDA’s candidate from the seat is former MLA Bashist Singh of JDU. Meanwhile, the BSP has fielded Uday Kumar Singh from the assembly constituency.
The JSP on the other hand has given ticket to Bhojpuri singer Ritesh Pandey. Notably, INC’s Santosh Kumar Mishra had emerged victorious from the assembly seat after defeating JDU’s Bashisht Singh in the last assembly polls.
Karakat: – The Karakat assembly constituency of Rohtas is another key seat in the region. Here the electoral contest is between Mahagathbandhan’s candidate Arun Singh of the CPI-ML, NDA’s Mahabali Singh and BSP’s Bandana Raj.
Other than the political parties a number of independent candidates are also in the fray. In the 2020 assembly elections, the seat was bagged by CPI-ML’s Arun Singh who had defeated BJP’s Rajeshwar Raj by a margin of over 17000 votes.
Jamui: – The Jamui assembly constituency is yet another seat where the candidates are locked in an intense electoral battle. Part of the Jamui Lok Sabha constituency, the assembly constituency was won by RJD in 2015 assembly polls.
NDA’s candidate from the seat is incumbent MLA Shreyasi Singh. An athlete turned politician Shreyasi Singh of the BJP defeated the then incumbent RJD MLA Vijay Kumar Yadav in the 2020 assembly polls by a margin of not less than 40000 votes.
The Mahagathbandhan this time has fielded a fresh face in Md. Shamshad Alam. The JSP’s candidate from the seat is Anil Prasad Sah, while the BSP and AAP fielding Mahavir Yadav and Ramashish Yadav respectively.
Chakai: – Chakai is another key assembly seat under the Jamui Lok Sabha constituency, touching Jharkhand. In the 2020 assembly polls, independent candidate Sumit Kumar Singh registered a victory on the seat by defeating RJD’s candidate Savitri Devi in a closely fought contest.
Singh, a Minister in the CM Nitish led NDA government this time is contesting the seat on a JDU ticket and up against the Mahagathbandhan’s candidate Savitri Devi, a former MLA from Chakai.
Other than the two major alliances, RLJP’s candidate Alauddin Ansari and JSP’s Rahul Kumar is also contesting elections from the seat.
Nabinagar: – The Nabinaghar assembly constituency of Aurangabad is another key seat. The assembly constituency falls under the Karakat Lok Sabha constituency and last won by RJD’s Vijay Kumar Singh who emerged victorious by defeating JDU’s Virendra Kumar Singh.
The NDA this time has fielded Chetan Kumar Singh, a former RJD MLA who switched sides to join the NDA camp. The Mahagathbandhan’s candidate on the seat is Amod Kumar Singh.
Archana Chandra is the JSP’s candidate from the seat with BSP’s Vinod Kumar also in the fray.
Imamganj: – Part of the Aurangabad Lok Sabha constituency, the assembly constituency of Imamganj is a SC reserved seat in Gaya Ji district. The assembly seat is considered a stronghold of the HAM(S) party.
Union Minister Jeetan Ram Manjhi was an MLA from the seat twice before it was won by his daughter-in-law Deepa Manjhi in the 2024 by-polls. The 2024 by-polls witnessed a triangular contest with JSP also fielding its candidate other than the RJD’s Roshan Kumar Manjhi.
In the 2025 polls, the seat is contest by Ritu Priya Chaudhary as a candidate of the Mahagathbandhan parties while the NDA has once again fielded the incumbent MLA Deepa Manjhi. The JSP has handed over ticket to Dr. Ajeet Kumar.
Notably the first phase of assembly elections concluded on November 6 with a historic voter’s turnout. The result of the state assembly polls is scheduled to be announced on November 11.
