Bihar assembly election phase 1: Days of campaigning, jibes and announcements have led to today when voters across 121 constituencies will press the buttons on EVMs choosing the candidate who will represent them in the 243-seat assembly for the next five years. The current Bihar assembly completes its tenure on Nov 22, and a fresh assembly has to be in place before that.
The run-up to the elections began with the fiery controversy over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) by the Election Commission of India (ECI) in June. The poll panel decided to conduct an overhaul of the voter roll in the poll-bound state, triggering a massive row that totally changed the ground of elections in Bihar.
What earlier used to be fought on critical issues, became a Constitutional face-off with the top poll panel at the centre of it. The opposition called it a “vote chori (vote theft)” exercise, adding that it was meant to delete those who vote for the Mahagathbandhan. So much was the issue raised that civil societies, and many others moved the Supreme Court.
A battle in court and another on roads
The two “Yuvraj”, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi refers to Congress MP Rahul Gandhi and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, rallied across Bihar in a “voter adhikar” yatra, to make people aware of what they thought the SIR was all about. Allegations, accusations and press conferences – the two held ECI responsible for the sudden mess created by the exercise, and called the BJP the mastermind.
Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar addressed a press conference, explaining and answering the questions the opposition raised. But it was not satisfactory to many. On the other hand, the counsels fought before the top court, with the latter first ordering the poll panel to release the list of all 65 lakh voters it had deleted in the draft roll.
Later came the Aadhaar issue, and again, the apex court asked to consider it as a document of identification. It questioned the timing of the SIR, but also added that the ECI, being a constitutional authority, is well within its rights to do so.
From Bihar to Delhi – the huddles of seats
As the dates were announced, the crucial mathematics of seat-distribution was the next big task. So intense it was that leaders travelled from Bihar to Delhi and back again multiple times. And this happened in both the NDA and INDIA bloc. Internal conflicts were fairly visible within both.
There were more parties, and hence the trouble. A piece of cake is what everyone desired. Yet, after countless meetings, NDA announced its deal in a social media post. BJP, JD(U) were given 101 seats each, Chirag Paswan’s LJP (RV) had to satisfy with 29 against a demand of 40; Jitan Ram Manjhi’s HAM and Upendra Kushwaha’s RLM were allotted six seats each.
But the Mahagathbandhan never made an announcement. Reports said Congress wanted more seats, but RJD was willing over 130 for itself. Bihar has 243 assembly seats, and the calculation became tough. The INDIA constituent JMM decided to go solo owing to the delay.
With the nomination deadline close, Congress released the names of 61 candidates, and RJD 143.
Rallies, speeches, narratives and promises
The campaigning part. Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed multiple rallies, Union Home Minister Amit Shah attended as many as 4-4 meetings in one day. The opposition was not behind. Rahul Gandhi, Tejashwi Yadav and others were an equal force against the rivals.
The “jungle raaj” came to haunt the RJD and Congress again. Tejashwi chose to counter it with promises of development – the biggest being ‘one government job to each household’. NDA as well as Jan Suraaj’s Prashant Kishor questioned the maths and the expenditure.
But the alliance stood by what he said – a law within 20 days of government formation to ensure a government job per household in Bihar. Expressways, roads, rail connection, financial assistance to women are all what both factions focused on. The most vital point remained jobs, as Tejashwi said in an interview to Indian Express: “Jobs, jobs and jobs”.
Now with all cards and strategies out – the first phase of poll day has come, and the run up to the second phase has begun.
