Bihar Politics: NDA and Grand Alliance face off on 41 seats in 5 districts, rebels also under scrutiny

With the celebration of the Chhath festival, the Bihar Assembly elections are slowly gaining momentum. After the candidates were finalized, the contest appears to be between the two alliances in 41 assembly constituencies across five districts of Tirhut. However, rebels are trying to spoil their chances in some seats. This poses a significant challenge to prevent vote splitting.

The NDA has begun damage control. A series of rallies by state and national leaders is in full swing. Voters are being wooed by leaders based on the political landscape in each assembly constituency.

On Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi presented to the public a blueprint for Bihar’s progress after the formation of the NDA government from Karpurigram, the land of Karpuri. This will prove to be a major strength for the NDA candidates in this election.

On the other hand, the Grand Alliance held its first rally on Friday. Tejashwi Yadav and Mukesh Sahni garlanded each other with the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister’s garlands, signaling that all is well. However, uncertainty remains regarding Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s rally.

In most of the 11 seats in Muzaffarpur, the NDA and the Grand Alliance are locked in a close contest. The most interesting contests are in Paru, Kudhni, and Muzaffarpur. Paru BJP MLA Ashok Kumar Singh’s ticket was denied and he is contesting as an independent candidate, leaving NDA’s RLMO candidate Madan Chaudhary facing a tough challenge.

Minister Kedar Prasad Gupta’s reputation is at stake in Kudhni, and there is a possibility of a vote split. In Muzaffarpur, BJP’s Ranjan Kumar faces the challenge of snatching the seat from Congress’ Bijendra Kumar. With the distribution of symbols, party leaders are working to resolve the dispute within the BJP.

Breaking into the NDA stronghold is a challenge for the Grand Alliance:
Champaran is an NDA stronghold. The Supaul constituency in East Champaran is in the news. The nomination of the Grand Alliance candidate was rejected here. This makes the fight appear easier for LJP(R)’s Rajesh Kumar alias Bablu Gupta. The extent of the challenge posed by Ajay Kumar Jha of Jan Suraj and Shyam Kishore Chaudhary of the Janshakti Janata Dal (JD) will become clearer after the sixth election.

The Govindganj seat in the district is also in the news. Here, Raju Tiwari of the LJP is contesting from the NDA instead of the BJP’s sitting MLA Sunil Mani Tiwari. He will face the challenge of proving his decision right.

In West Champaran, the Congress has played the legacy card. Shashwat Kedar Pandey, grandson of former Chief Minister Kedar Pandey, is the candidate from Narkatiaganj. The BJP has fielded Sanjay Pandey in place of sitting MLA Rashmi Verma. Rashmi was upset by this and filed her nomination as an independent candidate, but later withdrew her nomination, providing some relief to the BJP.

Among the eight seats in Sitamarhi district, Parihar is the most talked about. Ritu Jaiswal, who rebelled against the RJD and entered the fray, is making the contest interesting. The BJP has fielded MLA Gayatri Devi. The candidacy of Dr. Smita Purve, daughter-in-law of former RJD state president Ramchandra Purve, is sure to split the Vaishya votes.

The BJP has fielded former MP Sunil Kumar Pintu from the Sitamarhi seat. This could impact Vaishya voters in surrounding constituencies. In the only seat in the neighboring district of Shivhar, after a long time, Navneet Kumar, the grandson of former minister Raghunath Jha, is contesting from the RJD. The JDU has fielded Dr. Shweta Gupta in place of MP Lovely Anand and Anand Mohan’s son Chetan Anand. She has already faced opposition here.