Will the verdict of the exit polls stand when the results of the elections to Bihar’s 243-member legislative assembly are announced on Tuesday (November 10)? Almost all exit polls have given an advantage to the Grand Alliance (GA), or Mahagathbandhan, which comprises the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Congress and left-wing parties.
Will Bihar have a new young chief minister in Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, who celebrates his 31st birthday on Monday? Or have voters put their faith in incumbent Nitish Kumar, who is considering his fourth term?
Bihar’s three-phase elections, which were the first to take place amid the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) outbreak, have another first. This is the first election in three decades to be held without RJD chief Lalu Prasad, who languishes in a Ranchi jail following his conviction in multiple forage scam cases, and Party chief Lok Janshakti (LJP ), Ram Vilas Paswan, who died in October after a brief illness.
The results will decide whether the voters of Bihar have decided to hand over the state baton to the younger generation represented by Tejashwi and Chirag Paswan of the LJP (37).
Many in the state capital, Patna, scoff at the results of exit polls.
“Wait for the day of the bill,” said Rajiv Ranjan, spokesman for the ruler Janata Dal (United).
Counting arrangements
The Election Commission of India (ECI) has made elaborate arrangements for the counting of votes on Tuesday.
ECI has established 55 counting centers in the 38 districts of the state, which voted in three phases on October 28, November 3 and November 7.
Three counting centers have been established each in four districts of East Champaran (which has 12 electoral districts), Gaya (10 seats), Siwan (8 electoral districts) and Begusarai (7 electoral districts).
Three-layer security has been provided at the counting centers. The first layer comprises the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), the second layer is the Bihar Military Police, and the third layer is the district armed police for 38 vaults across the state.
“Bihar police officers are ensuring their safety from outside,” said a senior police official from the state police headquarters, adding that 1,900 Central Police Armed Forces (CAPF) guard 38 strong compounds, including in the capital. of the state.
The AN College facility in Patna is the largest vault in the state, as EVMs from 14 constituencies of the Patna district are stored. At least one section of CAPF personnel would be deployed to the innermost perimeter throughout the day. Video cameras would be provided to CAPF staff to record all visits by voting staff and voting agents.
A total of 106,524 EVM are in different strong rooms in 55 centers in the state that will decide the fate of 3,558 candidates, including 370 women and one transgender. The counting process, scheduled to begin at 8 a.m. on Nov. 10, will be videotaped, officials said, adding that postal ballots will be counted first.
To turn off
Bihar recorded a 57.05% turnout in the assembly elections this time, slightly higher than in 2015, despite the Covid-19 pandemic, according to official data. Voter turnout in the 2015 elections was 56.66%.
Electoral problems
In this assembly election, employment overshadowed development as the poll narratives shifted from a development agenda to jobs for unemployed youth.
The RJD-led AG got things started with a promise to provide 1 million jobs. Although initially the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) scoffed at the proposal, later the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a part of the NDA along with the ruling JD (U), was forced to announce 1.9 million of youth jobs. “We have a roadmap for this exercise. The RJD is trying to deceive innocent youth, ”said Dr. Sanjay Jaiswal, head of the Bihar unit of the BJP, after the publication of the party’s manifesto.
The parties were forced to attract young people due to the large number of young voters and their hunger for educational and employment opportunities.
ECI data showed that out of a total of 729 million voters in Bihar, more than 50% are in the 18-39 age group.
While 700,140 voters are in the 18-19 age group, with no first-hand experience of what Prasad’s “raj jungle” (anarchy) was like between 1990 and 2015.
The other 160 million voters are in the 20-29 age group and about 20 million are between 30 and 39, who are indifferent to politics.
They only focus on higher education, employment, and other related opportunities in an attempt to earn a decent living.
The Covid-19-induced return to their places of origin of 1.6 million migrant workers from wealthy areas of the country has only added to people’s aspirations to lead economically secure lives in their home state.
Four alliances, six candidates
This assembly election was unique in more ways than one. The state witnessed the participation of no less than four alliances and there were six main ministerial candidates in the race.
The NDA is a four-party alliance: BJP, JD (U), Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) and Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP). While the GA is made up of RJD, Congress and left-wing parties.
The Democratic Progressive Alliance (PDA), a four-party alliance, Jan Adhikar Party (JAP), Azad Samaj Party, Bahujan Mukti Party (BMP), and Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI). The Great Secular Democratic Front (GDSF) of the Rashtriya Lok Samta Party (RLSP), the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Janwadi (Socialist) Party and the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) led by Asaduddin Owaisi for all of India . the polls.
The NDA and GA have screened Kumar and Tejashwi as their CM candidate, respectively.
Former Member of Parliament (MP) Rajesh Ranjan aka Pappu Yadav of JAP and former Union Minister Upendra Kushwaha of RLSP are the CM candidates of the PDA and GDSF, respectively.
Additionally, Plurals Party’s Pushpam Priya and Chirag have also been projected as the CM candidate in the multi-corner assembly elections.
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