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The first phase of Bihar elections was largely peaceful, with more than 57 per cent voters turning up on Monday in the 49 constituencies that went to the polls.
Development and social justice remained the key issues in the ten districts, where Maoist insurgency is also an area of concern.
While the BJP-led alliance has pegged its campaign entirely on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the RJD-JD(U)-Congress ‘Grand Alliance’ combined the social empowerment face of Lalu Prasad and the pro-development image of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
In the pitched battle, both fronts claimed an edge in the first phase.
“The alliance will do exceedingly well in the 49 seats,” RJD spokesperson Mrityunjay Tiwari said. He said the alliance’s socio-political arithmetic has worked well in the first phase. “We are confident of its repetition in other phases too,” he said. The alliance feels minorities and the backward caste groups would solidly back its candidate and it form a solid base for the candidates.
Sting operation
The NDA, on the other hand, got a shot in the hand on Monday in the form of a sting operation by a TV channel against senior JD(U) minister Awadhesh Prasad Kushwaha on the eve of the elections. Kushwaha was seen cash, allegedly bribe, in the video. He was asked to resign by the JD(U) leadership later, who also said that the sting operation was wrong. “We have taken immediate action against him. Now there will be a probe into it. The BJP should not forget the fact that its former president Bangaru Laxman was in jail for accepting bribe,” Tiwari added.
The BJP, however, found an issue in it. The party alleged that the Nitish Kumar government is immersed in corruption. Former Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi demanded a CBI probe into the issue.
“Awadheshji has mentioned (in sting video) that there are 4-5 more Ministers involved, he also speaks to one of the Ministers. We want to know who those other Ministers are who are giving assurance that they would help if voted to power. This is like selling Bihar,” the BJP leader said.
Both fronts hoped that the fair turnout of women and youngsters will help them. The NDA hopes that young voters will think ahead of the caste combinations and will vote for Modi the way they did in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. The Grand Alliance, on the other hand, believes the youth have lost interest in Modi since the unemployment rate has remained unchanged in Bihar. The alliance believes women will vote for Nitish Kumar’s leadership.
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