On the last day of poll campaigning for 78 seats across 15 districts in Bihar, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday announced that this was going to be his last election.
Also read: Bihar Assembly elections | Nitish Kumar hits out at Yogi Adityanath over CAA remark
For both the JD(U)-led NDA and RJD-led UPA stakes are high in the third phase of polls in constituencies comprising Seemanchal, Kosi and Mithila areas where Muslim, Yadav and Extremely Backward Class votes largely decide the fate of candidates.
JD(U) president Mr. Kumar, 69, who is seeking his fourth consecutive term, made an emotional appeal to voters that this was going to be his last election. “Parso chunav hai aur yeh mera aakhiri chunav hai…aur ant bhala to sab bhala (Day after tomorrow is election day and it will be my last election. All’s well that ends well),” said Mr. Kumar, while addressing a public meeting at Dhamdaha in Purnia district of northeast Bihar.
RJD leader and party spokesperson Mrityunjay Tiwari said, “Our leader Tejashwi Yadav has been saying for long that on November 10, the farewell of Nitish Kumar is guaranteed. Yeh to aise bhi unka last chunav hi tha (it was anyway to be his last election).”
BJP leader Prem Ranjan Patel countered Mr. Tiwari saying that the JD(U) chief “might have meant that it was the last phase of poll of the ongoing election”. Even if Mr. Kumar wanted to retire, the people of Bihar would not like him to do so, Mr. Patel said. In an interview to a news channel a few days ago, Mr. Kumar had said that “he would work until people would like him to work”.
Also read: Bihar Assembly polls | This is my last election: CM Nitish Kumar
Numbers game
Out of 78 seats in third phase of polls, the grand alliance in 2015 had won 54 Assembly seats (the JD(U) 24, the RJD 20 and the Congress 10). Both the JD(U) and the RJD were part of an alliance in the 2015 poll. But, later, the JD(U) chief parted ways with the RJD in 2017 to join hands with the BJP to retain the Chief Minister’s post. The BJP had got 19 seats while five seats had gone to smaller regional parties. “Muslims in Seemanchal area are known for tactical voting. The AIMIM (All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen) can make the difference as the BJP will be keeping a close eye on any division of minority votes” said political analyst Ajay Jha of A.N. Sinha Institute of Social Sciences.
In third phase, as many as 12 Ministers — eight from the JD(U) and four from the BJP — of Mr. Kumar’s cabinet are contesting. The Opposition too has prominent candidates such as Abdul Bari Siddiqui (Kewati), Ramai Ram (Bochaha), State secretary of CPI Ram Naresh Pandey (Harlakhi), Lovely Anand (Saharsa) and Shiv Chandra Ram (Patepur). State Assembly Speaker Vijay Kumar Chaudhury is contesting from the Sarairanjan constituency on the JD(U) ticket against RJD candidate Arvind Kumar Sahni. There are 1,204 candidates in the fray, with 110 women nominees.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav have addressed a series of public meetings to woo voters. Mr. Modi spoke of ‘Jai Shri Ram’, ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’, soldiers martyrdom at Pulwama, the scrapping of Article 370, the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, Ganga and Chhatee maiya (the Ganga and sun god deity) in his rallies.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said those who went against the security and sovereignty of the country would be thrown out from India. RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav repeated his promise of 10 lakh government jobs to youth and Mr. Kumar stressed on development.
Also read: Bihar Assembly election | Battleground Seemanchal can turn a swing region
Demographics
The Muslim-dominated Seemanchal region comprises Kishanganj, Purnia, Araria and Katihar districts while the Kosi area of Saharsa and Madhepura has dominant Yadav and Rajput voters. The Mithila region of Darbhanga and Madhubani has more Brahmin and Muslim voters.
The BJP has been doing well in bordering areas of northeast Bihar on the division of Muslim votes and consolidation of Hindu votes. The Muslim population of Seemanchal is divided into three sub-castes of Kulahiya, Surajapuri and Bhatt and they are known to be opposed with each other. This border area has also been the focus region for AIMIM. The AIMIM candidate had even won the Kishanganj Assembly bypoll in 2019. However, the Congress too has a formidable presence in some constituencies of Seemanchal. In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Congress candidate Mohammad Javed was the lone Opposition candidate to win the poll against the NDA, which had pocketed 39 out of the total of 40 LS seats in Bihar.
