The voting for the sixth phase of the Lok Sabha elections is slated for today (May 25). A total of 58 constituencies of 7 states will go to polls. This includes 8 constituencies of Bihar.
There are a total of 1.49 crore voters who will exercise their voting rights at 14,872 polling stations. The constituencies are mostly rural as only 1,281 falls in urban areas. Gopalganj accounts for the highest number of 20.24 lakh voters while the smallest electorate (17.56 lakh) is in West (Pashchim) Champaran.
Constituencies in Bihar
Bihar has a total of 40 Lok Sabha seats. So far the voting has been concluded in 24 seats. Out of the rest 16 seats 8 – Valmiki Nagar, Paschim Champaran, Purvi Champaran, Sheohar, Vaishali, Gopalganj, Siwan, Maharajganj will go to polls tomorrow.
The fight in Bihar is bipolar in these elections as BJP, JD(U), Chirag Paswan’s LJP (Ram Vilas), Upendra Kushwaha’s RLM and Jeetan Manjhi’s HAM are in alliance against the coalition of RJD, Congress and CPI, CPI (M), Mukesh Sahani’s VIP. A total of 86 candidates are contesting in Bihar’s 8 Lok Sabha seats.
Key candidates in fray
In Valmiki Nagar, the JDU candidate Sunil Kumar is contesting against RJD’s Deepak Yadav. In 2019, Baidyanath Prasad Mahto of the JD(U) won by a huge margin of 354616 votes, defeating Congress’ Shashwat Kedar
In West Champaran, the main contest is between sitting MP Sanjay Jaiswal of BJP and Madan Mohan Tiwari of INC, a former MLA from Bettiah. In 2019, Sanjay Jaiswalemerged victorious by receiving nearly 60 per cent votes defeating Brijesh Kushwaha.
On the other hand, in East(Purvi) Champaran, the BJP has pitted three-time MP Radha Mohan Singh against VIP’s Rajesh Kushwaha. The seat has been a stronghold of BJP. Earlier in 2019, Radha Mohan Singh registered a crushing win over RLSP’s Aakash Prasad Singh by a margin of 2.94 lakh votes.
Talking about Sheohar, the bipolar tussle is between JD(U)’s Lovely Anand and Ritu Jaiswal of RJD. Back in 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Rama Devi of the BJP emerge victorious against RJD’s Syed Faisal. Rama Deviw was polled a whopping 60 per cent vote.
Meanwhile, the BJP has once again fielded sitting MP Janardan Singh Sigriwal in his seat of Maharajganj. Sigriwal's bid to score a hat-trick is facing a challenge from Akash Prasad Singh of the Congress, whose father, Akhilesh Prasad Singh is a Rajya Sabha MP and heads the party’s state unit. The choice of candidates of the BJP and Congress has reignited a decade-old political strife between two communities –Bhumihar and Rajput.
Similar caste equations are going to play a role in nearby Vaishali Lok Sabha where Veena Devi's bid to retain the seat faces a daunting challenge from Vijay Kumar Shukla of RJD. In 2019, Veena Devi won the seat on LJP ticket.
In Siwan the fight has become triangular after the entry of an Independent Hina Shahab between JD(U) and RJD. Heena’s husband late Mohd Shahabuddin had won the seat several times.
(With PTI Inputs)
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