PATNA: The stage is about for the primary part of Lok Sabha polls in Bihar the place greater than 75 lakh voters will resolve the destiny of 38 candidates standing in 4 constituencies. Tight safety preparations are in place at Nawada and Aurangabad, in addition to reserved seats of Gaya and Jamui, the place a majority of practically 5,000 polling cubicles have been marked as “delicate”, given these districts’ lengthy historical past of naxal violence.
Of the 4 seats, Nawada has the very best variety of 20.06 lakh voters, the place altogether eight candidates are within the fray although the competition is primarily between Vivek Thakur, a BJP Rajya Sabha MP searching for entry into the Lok Sabha, and RJD’s Shravan Kushwaha. The pitch has, nonetheless, been queered by Impartial candidate Binod Yadav, who resigned from the RJD after Kushwaha was fielded from the seat.
Yadav is the youthful brother of Raj Vallabh Yadav, a former MLA whose spouse Vibha Devi is a sitting MLA and who wields appreciable affect and muscle energy within the space. Gaya has the bottom variety of 18.18 voters, however the highest variety of 14 candidates. Right here, former chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, an NDA ally, who’s only a few months shy of turning 80, is making yet one more bid to enter Parliament.
The principal challenger of Manjhi, who heads Hindustani Awam Morcha, is RJD’s Kumar Sarvajeet, a former minister and sitting MLA from Bodh Gaya seat, whose late father was the Gaya MP within the 1990s. The bottom variety of seven candidates are within the fray in Jamui, the place their fates will likely be determined by 19.07 lakh voters.
The primary contest, although, is between two debutantes. Certainly one of them is Arun Bharti, who has been fielded by the Lok Janshakti Celebration (Ram Vilas). The social gathering’s president Chirag Paswan, whose sister is married to Bharti, has shifted base to Hajipur after having represented the seat for 2 consecutive phrases.
Bharti’s primary challenger is Archana Ravidas of RJD, a grassroot-level political employee, who hopes to money in on her picture as a “native”, versus Bharti who hails from an influential political household however has no roots in Jamui. In Aurangabad, over 18 lakh voters will resolve the fates of 9 candidates, together with sitting BJP MP Sushil Kumar Singh, who’s aiming at a fourth consecutive time period.
His principal rival is RJD’s Abhay Kushwaha, who stop Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s JD(U), an NDA ally, final month, and instantly acquired the RJD ticket from social gathering president Lalu Prasad. Aurangabad has the very best variety of 1,701 delicate cubicles, adopted by Jamui (1,659), Gaya (995) and Nawada (666). Voting will happen until four P.M. At these cubicles whereas at different polling stations, it is going to be over two hours later.
Based on the Election Fee, greater than 150 firms of paramilitary forces will likely be helping the native police within the poll-bound districts the place 76.01 lakh voters, together with 36.38 lakh females and 255 belonging to the third gender, are anticipated to forged their votes. Particular preparations have been made for 65,811 voters who’re greater than 85 years of age. Multiple-fifth of the whole voters (16.06 lakh) are within the age group of 20 to 29 years whereas 92,602 are aged between 18 and 19 years.
