A total of 121 constituencies in the Bihar Legislative Assembly elections, which will be held in two phases, are scheduled to go to the polls on Thursday in the first phase of voting.
The contest will not only see Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s NDA taking on its primary rival in Tejashwi Yadav’s Mahagathbandhan Party, but also the debut of strategist-turned-politician Jan Suraj in the Assembly elections.
In the 121 seats in the first phase which is concentrated in central Bihar, the NDA in the 2020 Assembly elections got 59 seats, lagging behind Mahagathbandhan which got 61 seats.
2020 results for first stage seats
In 2020, the BJP contested 49 of the 121 seats that will vote on November 6, winning 32 seats. Its ally, Nitish Kumar’s JD(U), contested 65 of these seats and won 23. Mahagathbandhan leader RJD contested 71 of these 121 seats, winning 42, while its ally Congress contested 31 seats and won only eight.
In these 121 seats, the NDA collectively polled 37.69% of the votes in 2020, just behind the Mahagathbandhan Party which polled 38.06%.
In the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the NDA is leading in 95 Assembly segments among the first phase seats, with Mahagathbandhan leading in 25 segments, and Independent in one segment.
Since the 2020 Assembly elections, the composition of alliances in Bihar has changed. While Chirag Paswan’s RV and Upendra Kushwaha’s MLA are now in the NDA, important figures led by Mukesh Sahani have joined the opposition.
However, after prolonged seat-sharing talks ended in a deadlock, the Mahagathbandhan Party will engage in “friendly battles” on five seats where more than one alliance member has fielded a candidate in the first phase. There are six more seats in the second stage, where opposition allies face each other.
At stake in Phase 1
Seats: 121 – including 19 reserved seats
Participation rate in 2020: 55.81%
2020 seats and voting shares in the first stage seats
Candidates
Distribution of first-stage candidates
Candidates with criminal cases
RJD: 53 candidates in criminal cases (76% of RJD first phase candidates)
- Jan Suraj: 50 (44%)
- BJP: 31 (65%)
- Jordanian Dinar (U): 22 (39%)
- Left: 21 (95%)
- BSP: 18 (20%)
- Congress: 15 (65%)
- LGBT (RV): 7 (54%)
354 or 27% of all candidates in the first stage face serious criminal cases, including murder and crimes against women
91 seats, or 75% of those heading to the polls in the first stage, each had at least three candidates with criminal cases.
At the eighth position, Kurhani seat in Muzaffarpur district has the highest number of candidates with criminal cases
Anant Kumar Singh of JD(U), who is contesting from Mokama, has the highest number of pending cases with 28.
Croremate candidates
Jan Suraj: 81 Croatian candidates (71% of total Jan Suraj candidates)
- RGD: 68 (97%)
- Jordanian Dinar (U): 52 (91%)
- BJP: 44 (92%)
- Congress: 18 (78%)
- LGB(RV): 10 (77%)
- Left: 7 (32%)
Richest candidate: BJP’s Kumar Pranay, who is contesting against Munger, is the richest candidate in the first phase with total assets worth Rs 170.82 crore.
Poorest candidates: Two candidates from small parties, contesting from Darbhanga and Barh, have the lowest total assets of Rs 1,000 each.
Average assets of candidates
BJP: Rs 11.3 lakh crore per candidate on average
- LJP (RV): Rs 10.88 crore
- RJD: Rs 10.38 crore
- Jordanian Dinar (U): Rs 8.76 crore
- Congress: Rs 5.86 lakh crore
- Jan Suraj: Rs 5.73 crore
- Left: Rs 1.86 crore
- The largest and the smallest
Oldest: Independent Shiv Das Singh, 86, is contesting from Barhara
smaller: 23 candidates are 25 years old, which is the youngest age eligible to run in the elections. They are largely independent or belong to smaller parties, although the BJP has nominated 25-year-old Bhojpuri singer Maithili Thakur.
Major competitions
Alinagar | Bhojpuri singer Maithili Thakur, BJP, against Binod Mishra, RJD, against Biplu Kumar Chowdhury, Jan Suraj
Chabra | Bhojpuri actor Khesari Lal Yadav, RJD, against Choti Kumari, BJP, against former mayor Rakhi Gupta, Independent, against retired IPS officer Jai Prakash Singh, Jan Suraj
Danapur | Former Union Minister Ram Kripal Yadav, BJP, versus MLA Reet Lal Roy, RJD
Lakhisarai Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Kumar Sinha, Bharatiya Janata Party, vs. Amaresh Kumar, Congress, vs. Suraj Kumar, Jan Suraj
Paid | Baahubali-turned-politician Anant Kumar Singh, JD(U), against Baahubali-turned-politician Surajbhan Singh’s wife, Veena Devi, RJD
Raghopur | Former MP CM Tejashwi Yadav, RJD, against former MLA Satish Kumar, BJP, against Chanchal Kumar, Jan Suraj
Sahrasa | Inclusion Party of India chief IP Gupta, against former state minister Alok Ranjan, Bharatiya Janata Party, against former independent Indian MP Kishore Kumar, Jan Suraj
Siwan State Health Minister Mangal Pandey, BJP, against former Parliament Speaker Awadhi Bihari Chaudhary, RJD, against election of Ahmed, Jan Suraj
Tarapore Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Chaudhary, BJP, against former MLA Arun Kumar, RJD, against Dr Santosh Singh, Jan Suraj
(Tags for translation) Political Pulse
