FIRST PHASE TODAY
Candidates’ fate on 71 seats to be sealed in EVMs
PATNA: More than two crore voters in Bihar will decide the fate of 1,066 candidates on Wednesday across 71 assembly segments in the first phase of elections.
Guidelines have been issued by the EC for safe conduct of the electoral exercise, which takes place in the midst of the raging COVID19 pandemic.
These include lowering the cap on the maximum number of voters for a polling booth from 1,600 to 1,000, staggering of polling hours and postal ballot facility for those aged above 80, or those afflicted with or suspected to be carrying the contagion.
Besides, sanitisation of EVMs, wearing of masks and other protective gear by polling personnel and availability of thermal scanner, hand sanitiser, soap and water will be ensured.
Of the 2.14 crore voters who will exercise their franchise, 1.01 crore are women and 599 belong to the third gender, according to data provided by the EC. The candidates include 952 men and 114 women, the maximum number (27) being in the fray at Gaya Town and the minimum (5) at Katoria in Banka.
Among the major political parties, CM Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) is contesting in 35 of the 71 seats, followed by its ally BJP (29), while the opposition RJD has fielded its candidates in 42 and its coalition partner Congress is in the fray in 20 assembly seats.
LJP, headed by Chirag Paswan, is in the fray in 41 seats, which include all the 35 contested by JD(U), in keeping with the call given by the young party president, who recently pulled out of the NDA in the state, to "dislodge" the chief minister from power.
Prominent candidates include Shreyasi Singh, the Commonwealth Games gold medallist shooter who is making her debut at the age of 27 as the BJP candidate from Jamui.
If I am a jamura, who is the madaari? Do they know who they are mocking? They say I am acting on the orders of the PM. By calling me jamura, they are insulting the PM and calling him a madaari. The continuous insult of the PM is beyond me. By being against just one person, you are speaking against the PM as well.