The Bihar assembly elections will be conducted in five phases between October 12 and November 5, the Election Commission announced on Wednesday, setting the stage for a tough contest between the BJP and an alliance of the JD-U and RJD that has the backing of the Congress. The counting of votes will be held on November 8.
The polls for 243 member Bihar assembly whose term ends on November 29 is expected to be high pitch battle with Prime Minister Narendra Modi already holding four rallies and announcing a Bihar package of Rs 1,65,000 crore. Chief minister Nitish Kumar is seeking a third term after ruling Bihar for 10 years. Kumar was earlier allied with the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance, with which he snapped ties in June 2013 after the projection of Narendra Modi as its prime ministerial candidate for last year’s general election.
The BJP, which performed well in the state during the Lok Sabha polls, has an alliance with Ram Vilas Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party and Upendra Kushwaha’s RLSP. After the poll debacle in Delhi, this will be a major test of the “Modi wave”. With a mega Bihar package and four Parivartan rallies in the state so far, PM Modi has had a tight grip on the run-up to the polls.
The Samajwadi Party has walked out of the grand alliance of the regional parties in poll-bound Bihar, charging the JD-U and RJD with not consulting them in seat distribution and humiliating them by doling it just five seats.The SP, which rules Uttar Pradesh, said it would contest the elections on its own.The Election Commission held a meeting with top officials of the Union home ministry last week to discuss the deployment of security forces for the polls that could be held in October. Apart from central forces, state police personnel will also be deployed during the elections.The term of the 243-member Bihar Assembly ends on November 29.
