The stage is set for the first phase of Lok Sabha elections in Patna, Bihar, where over 75 lakh voters will decide the fate of 38 candidates standing in four constituencies.
Apart from the reserved seats of Gaya and Jamui, tight security arrangements have been made in Nawada and Aurangabad, where most of the nearly 5,000 polling stations have been marked as "sensitive" given the long history of Naxalite violence in these districts.
Of the four seats, Nawada has the highest number of voters at 20.06 lakh with a total of eight candidates in the fray, although the main contest is between BJP's Rajya Sabha MP Vivek Thakur and RJD's Shravan Kushwaha, who is seeking entry into the Lok Sabha.
However, the pitch has been spoiled by independent candidate Binod Yadav, who resigned from RJD after fielding Kushwaha from the seat.
Yadav is the younger brother of former MLA Raj Vallabh Yadav, whose wife Vibh Devi is a sitting MLA and has considerable influence and muscle power in the area.Gaya has the least number of voters at 18.18, but the maximum number of candidates is 1. Meanwhile, NDA ally former Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, who is just a few months away from turning 80, is making another attempt to enter Parliament.
Hindustani Awam Morcha chief Manjhi's main rival is RJD's Kumar Sarvjit, a former minister and sitting MLA from Bodhgaya seat, whose late father was Gaya MP in the 1990s.
At least seven candidates are in the fray in Jamui, where 19.07 lakh voters will decide their fate.
However, the main contest is between the two debutants.One of them is Arun Bharti, who has been fielded by Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas). Party president Chirag Paswan, whose sister is married to Bharti, has made Hajipur his base after representing the seat for two consecutive terms.
Bharti's main challenger is RJD's Archana Ravidas, a grassroots political activist who hopes to cash in on her image as a "local", while Bharti hails from an influential political family but has no influence in Jamui. There are no roots.
In Aurangabad, over 18 lakh voters will decide the fate of nine candidates, including sitting BJP MP Sushil Kumar Singh, who is aiming to win power for the fourth consecutive term.
His main rival is RJD's Abhay Kushwaha, who left Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's NDA ally JDU last month and immediately got the RJD ticket from party president Lalu Prasad.
Aurangabad has the highest number of sensitive booths at 1,701, followed by Jammu (1,659), Gaya (995) and Nawada (666).Voting will take place till 4 pm. Voting will be delayed by two hours at these booths while at other polling stations.
According to the Election Commission, more than 150 companies of paramilitary forces will assist local police in the poll-bound districts, where 76.01 lakh voters, including 36.38 lakh women and 255 of either gender, are expected to cast their votes.
Special arrangements have been made for 65,811 voters above 85 years of age. More than one-fifth of the total voters (16.06 lakh) are in the age group of 20 to 29 years, while 92,602 are in the age group of 18 to 19 years.
Apart from the reserved seats of Gaya and Jamui, tight security arrangements have been made in Nawada and Aurangabad, where most of the nearly 5,000 polling stations have been marked as "sensitive" given the long history of Naxalite violence in these districts.
Of the four seats, Nawada has the highest number of voters at 20.06 lakh with a total of eight candidates in the fray, although the main contest is between BJP's Rajya Sabha MP Vivek Thakur and RJD's Shravan Kushwaha, who is seeking entry into the Lok Sabha.
However, the pitch has been spoiled by independent candidate Binod Yadav, who resigned from RJD after fielding Kushwaha from the seat.
Yadav is the younger brother of former MLA Raj Vallabh Yadav, whose wife Vibh Devi is a sitting MLA and has considerable influence and muscle power in the area.Gaya has the least number of voters at 18.18, but the maximum number of candidates is 1. Meanwhile, NDA ally former Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, who is just a few months away from turning 80, is making another attempt to enter Parliament.
Hindustani Awam Morcha chief Manjhi's main rival is RJD's Kumar Sarvjit, a former minister and sitting MLA from Bodhgaya seat, whose late father was Gaya MP in the 1990s.
At least seven candidates are in the fray in Jamui, where 19.07 lakh voters will decide their fate.
However, the main contest is between the two debutants.One of them is Arun Bharti, who has been fielded by Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas). Party president Chirag Paswan, whose sister is married to Bharti, has made Hajipur his base after representing the seat for two consecutive terms.
Bharti's main challenger is RJD's Archana Ravidas, a grassroots political activist who hopes to cash in on her image as a "local", while Bharti hails from an influential political family but has no influence in Jamui. There are no roots.
In Aurangabad, over 18 lakh voters will decide the fate of nine candidates, including sitting BJP MP Sushil Kumar Singh, who is aiming to win power for the fourth consecutive term.
His main rival is RJD's Abhay Kushwaha, who left Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's NDA ally JDU last month and immediately got the RJD ticket from party president Lalu Prasad.
Aurangabad has the highest number of sensitive booths at 1,701, followed by Jammu (1,659), Gaya (995) and Nawada (666).Voting will take place till 4 pm. Voting will be delayed by two hours at these booths while at other polling stations.
According to the Election Commission, more than 150 companies of paramilitary forces will assist local police in the poll-bound districts, where 76.01 lakh voters, including 36.38 lakh women and 255 of either gender, are expected to cast their votes.
Special arrangements have been made for 65,811 voters above 85 years of age. More than one-fifth of the total voters (16.06 lakh) are in the age group of 20 to 29 years, while 92,602 are in the age group of 18 to 19 years.
