Ahead of first phase of polls, NDA candidate Jyoti Manjhi attacked; check update

A day before Bihar Election 2025 Phase 1 Polling, the vehicle of Jyoti Baleshwar Manjhi, MLA from Bihar’s Barachatti constituency and candidate of Jitan Ram Manjhi’s Hindustan Awam Morcha (HAM), was attacked by unidentified miscreants on Wednesday night, causing several serious injuries. At the time of the incident, Manjhi was campaigning in Barachatti’s Sulebatta mode when unknown miscreants hurled bricks and stones at his open vehicle. While a stone hit his chest during the attack, he was also injured in his head and hands. The attack caused major chaos, which raised concerns among his supporters who took him to safer ground.

What happened to Jyoti Manjhi?

He was initially treated at a local hospital and later referred to Magadh Medical College. Police are investigating the attack. Meanwhile, DSP Ajay Prasad says, “Jyoti Manjhi, who was returning to her office after the campaign, was reportedly attacked while standing near her vehicle in Barachatti. A stone was thrown at her by an unidentified person, which hit her. The police responded quickly by deploying an FST vehicle and a patrol car nearby. However, no one witnessed the attacker or could identify who had thrown the stone. The woman who was with her at the time also failed to provide any details.”

November 5, 2025

According to reports, Manjhi has been attacked twice before. While he was campaigning in Kharanti village under Magadh University police station, his vehicle was attacked by unidentified assailants who tore posters from his vehicle. In another incident, young people on bicycles who were attacked in Dema village entered his convoy while chanting slogans during the aid program.

Jyoti Manjhi is a candidate from Barachatti Assembly constituency and shares family bond with Jitan Ram Manjhi as he got his daughter married to his son.

The stage is set for the crucial first phase of assembly elections in Bihar on Thursday; 3.75 crore voters will decide the electoral fate of 1,314 candidates, including senior leaders like Tejashwi Yadav, the chief ministerial face of the INDIA bloc, and Deputy CM Samrat Choudhary of the BJP.

Tejashwi Yadav- While Yadav is aiming for a hat-trick in Raghopur, his main rival from the BJP, Satish Kumar, had defeated his mother Rabri Devi while contesting for the JD(U) symbol in 2010. The seat was expected to witness a high-voltage contest with Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor announcing that he wants to defeat Yadav on his home turf. However, Kishor decided not to contest and his party gave the ticket to a less fancied candidate, Chanchal Singh.

Tej Pratap- Next door to Mahua, Yadav’s estranged elder brother Tej Pratap floats his outfit Janshakti Janata Dal and is caught in a multi-cornered contest. RJD chief Lalu Prasad’s elder son is trying to wrest the seat from RJD MLA Mukesh Raushan, but the presence of Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) candidate Sanjay Singh, representing the NDA, and Independent Ashma Parveen, the 2020 runner-up, has made the situation awkward.

The electoral fates of many ministers in the Nitish Kumar government, including Deputy Chief Ministers Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha, will also be decided in the first phase of polls. Sinha hopes to retain Lakhisarai for the fourth consecutive term by overcoming not-so-tough challenges presented by Amresh Kumar of the Congress and Suraj Kumar of the Jan Suraaj Party. Choudhary, who is serving his second consecutive term in the legislative council, is contesting direct election after nearly a decade from Tarapur.

The former state BJP chief is facing a stiff challenge from RJD’s Arun Kumar Sah, who lost the seat by a narrow margin of around 5,000 votes in 2020.

Other seats and candidates whose performance will be keenly watched include young folk singer Maithili Thakur (BJP-Aliganj) and Bhojpuri superstars Khesari Lal Yadav (RJD-Chhapra) and Ritesh Pandey (Jan Suraaj Party – Kargahar). Nearly a dozen ministers are in the fray, mostly from the BJP, which has the lion’s share of the cabinet thanks to its superior power in the parliament.