Campaign ends for phase 1 covering 121 constituencies, all eyes are set on THESE seats
Campaigning for Bihar Election 2025 Phase 1 has ended. Voters in 121 constituencies will vote on November 6 during key contests involving top leaders.
The BJP fielded folk singer Maithili Thakur in the RJD stronghold of Alinagar.
The campaign for the first voting phase of Bihar Election 2025 concluded on Tuesday evening as voters prepared to exercise their right to vote on November 6. Voters from 121 constituencies spread across 18 regions will vote in the first stage. Voting for the remaining 122 seats will be held in the second phase on November 11. People of Bihar witnessed the high-octane drama as the battlefield was clearly marked with the ruling party Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Janata Dal (United), Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) and Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM) and Mahagathbandhan alliance on one side. Congress, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) and Left parties CPI, CPI-ML and CPI(M) are on the other side.
The first phase of the election campaign was marked by fierce shrillness, cacophony and confusion by all parties with an uninhibited approach. All eyes are now on some of the most important leaders; RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, his brother Tej Pratap Yadav of Janshakti Janata Dal, Deputy Chief Minister and Samrat Choudhary of BJP and Maithili Thakur, the party’s cultural pick.
tarapur
After Prime Minister Narendra Modi assured him that he would make Samrat Chaudhary a “bada aadmi” if elected, people in Tarapur see him as the next prime minister. But things are not as easy as they seem. The outgoing deputy prime minister was caught in the middle of tight competition. The largest constituency consists of the Yadavs, who number around 63,000, with around 20,000 Muslims, 50,000 upper caste (Rajputs and Brahmins), 40,000 Kushwahas, 35,000 Sahs and 28,000 Dalits. He is up against RJD’s Arun Shah, who contested from Tarapur in a 2021 bypoll and lost by a narrow margin of 3,800 votes against JD(U)’s Rajiv Kumar Singh.
Lakhisarai
Bihar’s other deputy chief minister is also in a vulnerable position. Vijay Kumar Sinha is contesting against JSP’s Suraj Kumar. He has been fielded for a sixth term from Lakhisarai constituency, which returned to the BJP’s candidate stronghold in three consecutive Assembly polls in 2010, 2015 and 2020. Caste is the most important factor as it is dominated by Bhumihar and other upper caste voters.
alinagar
BJP’s cultural pick, folk singer Maithili Thakur, contested from Alinagar in Darbhanga district against RJD’s Binod Mishra and JSP’s Biplaw Kumar Chowdhary. His critics called him an “outsider” as he was from Benipatti’s Uren village and had lived in Delhi since his childhood. The saffron party wants to capitalize on his popularity and has fielded him to counter the influence of RJD veteran Abdul Bari Siddiqui, who won seven times before bowing out after his victory in 2015. Mishri Lal Yadav, another RJD veteran who switched from VIP to NDA, won by a margin of just over 3,000 votes in 2020.
arrah
CPI (ML)’s Quyamuddin Ansari is pitted against BJP’s Sanjay Singh ‘Tiger’ in Arrah. He finished second to BJP’s Amrendra Pratap Singh in 2010 and 2020. In the 2015 general elections, RJD candidate Mohammad Nawaz Alam won.
Patna Sahib
The saffron party has replaced 72-year-old Nand Kishore Yadav, one of the longest-serving legislators, with a new face: Ratnesh Kushwaha, a 45-year-old lawyer in Patna Sahib. The Opposition Congress has fielded Shashant Shekhar, who is making his debut in the urban constituency, against him. Yadav defeated Congress’ Pravin Singh Kushwaha by 18,300 votes in 2020. This will be a much-sought-after opportunity for the Congress to regain lost ground in a city it has not been in for decades.
