All eyes will be on the second phase of polling on November 3 when voting in 94 Assembly constituencies in Bihar will begin on Tuesday morning. With ground reports suggesting that the Mahagathbandhan had a slight edge during the first phase of poll in which voting took place in 71 constituencies in Magadh and Shahabad region on October 28, the NDA will have to perform better than expected for the Tuesday poll if it wants to remain in the race.
Most of the seats for November 3 poll are in Mithilanchal region, including Champaran, which shares border with Nepal.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed four back-to-back rallies on Sunday at Chapra, Samastipur, Motihari and Bagaha, soliciting support for NDA Chief Ministerial candidate Nitish Kumar, who is seeking a fourth straight term as CM.
The second phase assumes all the more significance as it will decide the fate of Mahagathbandhan Chief Ministerial candidate Tejashwi Yadav who is contesting from his traditional seat Raghopur, a constituency in Vaishali, once represented by his mother Rabri Devi when she was the Chief Minister of Bihar.
Tejashwi’s elder brother Tej Pratap is also in the fray from Hasanpur in Samastipur. Besides, Nitish’s key aide and Bihar Assembly Speaker Vijay Choudhary is also in the fray from Sarairanjan in Samastipur.
Apart from this, the second phase will decide the fate of former Minister Manju Verma, who was dismissed from the Nitish Cabinet after her name cropped up in the Muzaffarpur Shelter Home case. Though she was expelled from the JD(U) for six years but she pleaded innocence and is again the JD (U) candidate from Cheria Bariyarpur in Begusarai.
Patna too will witness polling on Tuesday where Luv Sinha, son of former MP Shatrughan Sinha, is making his poll debut from Bankipur Assembly constituency, a part of the Patna Sahib Lok Sabha seat.
The third and final phase of polling will take place on November 7, while counting for the 243 Assembly seats is slated for November 10.