Bihar assembly polls to be held in two phases after 40 years

Patna: The Election Commission (EC) on Monday announced two-phase assembly elections, on Nov 6 and 11 in Bihar for the first time in 40 years since 1985.The single phase election was also held in Bihar in 1980 and 1990, the state voted in two phases in 1985. But in 1995, the then chief election commissioner, T N Seshan, conducted Bihar polls in five phases to ensure free and fair election, which also witnessed large-scale violence in the first phase, like in the 1985 and 1989 polls.The 2005 Feb and Oct elections were held in three and four phases, respectively, followed by six phases in 2010, five in 2015 and three in 2020 three phases in 2020.The election has set the ball rolling for the ruling NDA to retain power and the RJD to lead a govt in the state after Oct, 2005 with a chance for new player Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraaj to open its account and emerge as an alternative to the two blocs at the helm for the last 35 years.Prashant will himself contest the coming election to lead his party’s campaign from the front.This time Prashant Kishor is making efforts to make the election a triangular by contesting all the 243 seats with an appeal to people to vote for their children’s future. Hailing the decision of two-phase polls, he said on Monday, “Though he has a fight with NDA in most seats, the contest will be triangular in the state.” He believes the combined vote share of Grand Alliance is 30-35% and his target is the remaining 60-65% votes.Both the two main camps are yet to seal their seat-sharing deals and announce their candidates. BJP Bihar election in charge and Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who met his cabinet colleagues Rajeev Ranjan aka Lalan Singh and Jitan Ram Manjhi besides another alliance partner and RLM chief Upendra Kushwaha, called on JD(U) national working president Sanjay Kumar Jha on Monday. He is likely to meet LJP(RV) chief and Union minister Chirag Paswan in a day or two before the NDA seat-sharing formula is announced this week.The 2025 election is crucial for not only the ruling JD(U) and BJP but also for the opposition RJD led by Lalu Prasad, whose son and political heir Tejashwi Prasad Yadav had missed power by a few seats in 2020. While CM Nitish Kumar, 74, is trying to retain the top post for the 10th time, Tejashwi is leaving no stone unturned to realise his father’s dream to see his family member lead a govt after his wife Rabri Devi, who was Bihar CM from 1997 to 2005 following the fodder scam. Lalu was convicted in the fodder scam cases.In 2020, the NDA and RJD-led Grand Alliance had almost the same 37% vote share but a difference of 12,000 votes and 15 seats altogether. The NDA won 125 seats compared to the Grand Alliance 110. Others, including AIMIM, had 26% vote share. AIMIM of Asaduddin Owaisi had spoiled the opposition chances by winning five seats in the Muslim-dominated Seemanchal area. Congress, through its aggressive campaign, is trying to regain lost ground in Bihar. AIMIM is again contesting the Bihar election.