Bihar Elections 2020: Here are 7 key seats in phase 2; Tejashwi & Tej Pratap in poll fray

The largest number of assembly seats (94) are up for polls in Phase 2 of Bihar state elections on November 3. Approximately, 2.85 crore voters will decide the fate of 1,463 candidates in the fray - of which only 10% (143) are female candidates. The incumbent CM Nitish Kumar banks on his 15-year consecutive term, eyeing another term - as seven constituencies of Nalanda district, to which he belongs goes to polls and also seven of his cabinet ministers too are up for re-election. Meanwhile,  Tejashwi Yadav - who eyes his maiden term - stepping out of his father Lalu Yadav's shadow, is up for re-election from Raghopur, as is his brother Tej Pratap - who is contesting from Hasanpur.  Paswan - who is still reeling from his father Ram Vilas Paswan's untimely death - has taken a bizarre pro-BJP, anti-Nitish stance, and has contested the maximum number of party candidates in this phase.

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Political parties' seat break up:

As per the seat-sharing formula, from the NDA, BJP is contesting on 46 seats, JDU on 43 seats while Vikassheel Insaan Party  (VIP) is contesting on the remaining 5 seats - totalling 94 seats. On the other hand, as per Mahagathbandhan's seat-sharing formula, RJD is contesting on 56 seats, Congress on 24 seats, CPI and CPM on 4 seats each, CPI(ML) on 6 seats. The other parties in the poll fray are - LJP on 52 seats, BSP on 33 seats and RLSP on 36 seats.

Reports state that of the 56 seats RJD is contesting, it faces BJP on 28 seats and JDU on 24 seats.  Maharajganj has the maximum number of 27 candidates for any constituency, while Darauli has the lowest with four candidates. Polling will begin at 7 am and end at 6 PM - except in 8 Naxal-affected areas including Raghopur, Minapur, Alauli and Paru where polling will end at 4 PM.

In Bihar, Lalu's sons Tejashwi & Tej Pratap in poll fray for phase 2; face tough challenge

Key constituencies in Phase 2:

• Raghopur: Mahagathbandhan's CM face Tejashwi Yadav faces  BJP's Satish Kumar, who had defeated Rabri Devi in 2010 state election and LJP's Rakesh Roshan.  As per census data, 1.30 lakh Yadavs form the bulk of the voters, the constituency has a significant presence of upper-caste Rajputs, whose electorate size is estimated at around 40,000 followed by Muslims at 22,000 and Paswans at 18,000. In 2015, then 25-year-old Tejashwi defeated BJP's Kumar when the BJP had gone solo. While it has been a Lalu Yadav bastion in 1995, 2000, 2005 - Tejashwi has campaigned only once in Raghopur in 2020, unlike his competitors who have been canvassing extensively.

• Hasanpur: Tej Pratap who had contested from Mahua in 2015, shifted to "safe" seat of Hasanpur, after rumours that his estranged wife Aishwariya Rai would contest on an NDA ticket at Mahua. In  Hasanpur, Tej Pratap is pitted against sitting JDU MLA  Raj Kumar Rai, who has been holding the seat since 2010. This Yadav-dominated assembly segment from Samastipur district has seen extensive rallies by Tej Pratap with visuals of him playing cricket, riding a tractor in a field, playing the flute, and eating 'litti-Chokha', appearing on social media. Yadavs constitute nearly 65,000 of the total voters, while the Muslim electorate numbers 25,000. Forward castes' count is around 20,000 while Paswans' strength is around 18,000, Kushwahas (16,000) and Extremely Backward Castes (13,000) are said to constitute the remaining.

Bihar Assembly Elections 2020: Here are 8 key constituencies up for polls in Phase 1 

• Bankipur: Congress' poll debutant Luv Sinha - son of actor-turned-politician Shatrughan Sinha faces a formidable battle with four-time sitting BJP MLA Nitin Nabin. Other candidates in the fray are The Plurals Party chief Pushpam Priya, independent candidate and Oxford University academician Manish Barriarr. The Bankipur assembly which comes within the Patna Sahib Lok Sabha constituency, has over 25 percent upper caste Kayastha voters - making it a BJP stronghold. In 2015, Nabin defeated Kumar Ashish from the Congress party with a margin of around 39,000 votes.

• Begusarai: While CPI leader Kanhaiya Kumar unsuccessfully contested for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls from this constituency, the main battle this election is between sitting Congress MLA Amita Bhushan and the BJP’s Kundan Singh. In 2015, Bhushan defeated Singh by a margin of 16,531 votes, while CPM candidate Rajendra Prasad Singh secured 5,593 votes to finish in third place. 

• Govindganj: Inspite of Chirag Paswan's promise to not contest against BJP, LJP's sitting MLA Raju Tiwari will face a triangular re-election battle with Congress' Brajesh Pandey and BJP's Sunil Mani Tiwari. Apart from Govindganj, Paswan has fielded LJP candidates against BJP in 4 other seats. These include 2 sitting MLAs- Lalganj's Raj Kumar & Govindganj's Raju Tiwari - who is also LJP state parliamentary board president. BJP eyes to win this seat - which it has not held since 2010.

• Jhanjharpur: A tight contest will be witnessed in this Madhubani district constituency between sitting RJD MLA Gulab Yadav and  BJP’s Nitish Mishra. While Yadav had defeated Mishra in 2015, he is the son of 3-time Bihar CM Jagannath Mishra and the Vice-President of BJP Bihar. Jhanjharpur- a Hindu-dominated constituency comprises of 13.8% SC population.

• Patnasahib: Sitting BJP cabinet minister Nand Kishore Yadav eyes a seventh consecutive term. In 2015, he had won with a slim margin by garnering 88,108 votes, compared to RJD's  Santosh Mehta who garnered 85,316 votes. Yadav has held the seat since 1995.

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