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The second phase of Bihar assembly election begins today with over 2.85 crore voters to decide the fate of nearly 1,500 candidates in 94 constituencies.
Of the 1,463 candidates in the fray on the 94 seats, nearly 10 per cent (146) are women. Among the 2.85 crore voters, females account for 1.35 crore. Maharajganj has the maximum number of 27 candidates for any constituency while Darauli (04) has the lowest.
Of these 94 assembly segments spread across 17 districts, the fate of RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav, the opposition Grand Alliance’s Chief Ministerial candidate, and his elder brother Tej Pratap Yadav, who is trying his luck from Hasanpur in Samastipur district, would be sealed in the EVM.
In the second phase, the RJD is contesting 56 of the 94 seats while its ally Congress is contesting 24. The CPI and CPI(M), which joined the Grand Alliance recently, are fighting four seats each. Quite a few seats are being contested by the CPI(ML), the Left outfit with the strongest presence in Bihar.
BJP has fielded candidates on 46 seats, another 43 are being contested by those with JD(U) tickets, while Mukesh Sahni’s VIP, the latest entrant in the NDA, is contesting the remaining five.
The LJP is contesting 52 seats, including the two it had won in 2015 contesting as an NDA constituent. The party has fielded one transgender candidate too in this phase.
Plurals Party leader Pushpam Priya Choudhary is also in the fray in Bankipur, apart from BJP`s Nitin Naveen.
The poll opened at 7 am but the time for its conclusion has been extended by one hour till 6 pm to facilitate COVID-19 patients and those with symptoms of the disease to exercise their franchise in the last hour.
