Bihar Elections Phase 1 Voting: Have A Look At Key Candidates In Fray As 71 Seats Set For Polls

More than two crore voters in Bihar will decide the fate of 1,066 candidates on October 28 across 71 assembly segments in the first phase of elections.

Workers carry Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) at a distribution center on the eve of Bihar Assembly elections. (Image: PTI)

Bihar Elections 2020: The state of Bihar is all set for the first phase of voting. The much-anticipated election post Covid-19 pandemic is going to be the country’s first full-fledged assembly election. More than two crore voters in Bihar will decide the fate of 1,066 candidates tomorrow across 71 assembly segments in the first phase of elections. Among the 2.14 crore voters who will exercise their franchise on October 28 (Wednesday), 1.01 crore are women and 599 belong to the third gender, according to data provided by the Election Commission. As many as 952 men and 114 women candidates will be trying their luck in the first phase of polling. The maximum number candidates (27) being in the fray is from Gaya Town constituency and the minimum (5) from Katoria in Banka district. Chief Minister and NDA leader in the state Nitish Kumar's party Janta Dal United (JDU) is contesting in 35 of the 71 seats, followed by its ally Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) on 29 seats, while the opposition RJD has fielded its candidates in 42 and its coalition partner Congress is contesting upon 20 seats. While, Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), headed by Chirag Paswan, is in the fray in 41 seats, which include all the 35 contested by the JDU. Among the popular candidates, BJP has fielded 27-year-old Commonwealth Gold Medalist shooter Shreyashi Singh from Jamui seat who will be contesting against RJD’s sitting MLA Vijay Prakash, whose elder brother Jaiprakash Narayan Yadav is a former Union minister and a close aide of party supremo Lalu Yadav. Divya Prakash, 28-year-old daughter of the former Union Minister, will be making her debut from Tarapur constituency, as the candidate of RJD. The voting in the first phase of Bihar Elections on Wednesday will also be deciding fate of nearly half-a-dozen ministers of the Nitish Kumar's cabinet  including Krishnandan Verma, Prem Kumar, Jay Kumar Singh, Santosh Kumar Nirala, Vijay Sinha and Ram Narayan Mandal. Another important battle in the phase 1 will be Imamganj, from where former CM of the state and supremo of Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) leader Jitan Ram Manjhi will be contesting against RJD candidate Uday Narayan Choudhary, former Bihar Assembly Speaker and veteran Dalit leader. Another interesting candidate can be seen contesting from the seat of Mokama, RJD’s Anant Singh, richest phase 1 candidate and comes with 38 pending criminal cases, he is presently contesting the elections from jail presently the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. Out of 1066 contestants, 375 are “crorepatis” (Millionaire) while, 328 come with a background of criminal cases. Phase one of the voting will begin on October 28, followed by polling of second and third phase on November 3 and November 7. The results will be announced on November 10.