Bihar Assembly polls: Political greenhorns too trying their luck in the first phase

In the first phase of the Bihar Assembly elections, about 2.14 crore voters from 71 assembly constituencies will decide the political future of 1,066 candidates on Wednesday.

New Delhi: In the first phase of the Bihar Assembly elections, there are many young contestants whose fate will be decided by voters on Wednesday (October 28). Among these contestants include international shooter Shreyasi Singh, who is contesting from Jamui. 

Shreyasi Singh has been a sportsperson and a political greenhorn, but she inherits the political legacy of her late father Digvijay Singh, who was a Union Minister, and her mother Putul Singh has been a parliamentarian.

In Kahalgaon constituency, the Congress has fielded senior party leader Sadanand Singh`s son Shubhanand Mukesh, while in Sultanganj, the party has fielded former Youth Congress state President Lalan Yadav.

Another young politician Divya Prakash, the 28-year-old daughter of RJD leader Jaiprakash Yadav, is contesting from Tarapur Assembly seat. She is the youngest contestant among the candidates whose fate will be sealed in the EVM on October 28.

Of the 71 assembly seats, the RJD has fielded 42 candidates. The fate of JDU's 35, BJP's 29, Congress' 21s, eight of CPI-ML, six of HAM, and one candidate of VIP will also decided in the first phase. Other parties including 43 of RLSP, 42 of LJP, and 27 of BSP, are also expecting to win maximum seats.

The phase of voting will also be crucial for as many eight ministers whose reputation is at stake. These ministers are Agriculture Minister Dr Prem Kumar, Education Minister Krishnanandan Verma, besides Shailesh Kumar, Jai Kumar Singh, Santosh Kumar Nirala, Ramnarayan Mandal, Vijay Kumar Sinha, and Brijkishore Bind.

Other key candidates whose fate will be sealed in the EVM are former chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi and former Speaker Uday Narayan Chaudhary from Imamganj, while Bahubali Anant Kumar Singh is trying his luck from Mokama constituency.

About 2.14 crore voters from 71 assembly constituencies will decide the political future of 1,066 candidates on Wednesday. Voters will exercise their franchise in the first phase for which 31,380 polling booths have been set up. 

In the first phase, the main contest is between the National Democratic Alliance (NDA)-led by the BJP and the opposition parties. In some areas, other political parties and independents are also trying to make the competition triangular.

Additional Chief Electoral Officer of the state Election Commission Sanjay Kumar Singh reportedly said that jawans of central paramilitary forces have been deployed at all the polling booths.

The elections for 243 Assembly seats will be held in three phases; 71 seats on October 28, 94 seats on November 3, and the remaining 78 on November 7, while the results will be announced on November 10.