Officials and volunteers will begin counting millions of votes in Bihar’s high-risk assembly elections for the 243-member chamber on Tuesday, with a coalition led by Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav projecting have an advantage over Chief Minister Nitish. Kumar. These votes will be counted in 55 centers, compared with 38 during Lok Sabha polls last year, in 38 districts where the result will decide the fate of the Nitish Kumar government that has run the state for more than a decade. Vote counting will begin at 8 a.m. and the results are likely to be clear later in the day.
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The Election Commission of India has said that it makes sure that the counting process runs smoothly. Bihar Electoral Director HR Srinivasa has said that hundreds of staff members from the central armed police forces have been deployed to the security rooms, where electronic voting machines (EVMs) have been stored since the completion of the voting, as well as in the halls where they will be open on Tuesday morning after the postal ballot count ends.
Most exit polls have predicted the end of the ruling Janata Dal (United) or JD (U) -Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) combination and a resounding victory for the Grand Alliance (Mahagathbandhan) led by the chief RJD’s 31-year ministerial candidate Tejashwi Yadav.
Political, bahubal and debutants weights
Leaders of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), which consists of the BJP, JD (U), Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) and the Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP), face a tough contest of candidates from the opposition Mahagathbandhan coalition . or Great Alliance. The Mahagathbandhan comprises the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), the Congress and the left-wing parties. This year, the NDA has neither Upendra Kushwaha’s Rashtriya Lok Samta Party nor Chirag Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party, which left the alliance citing differences with Nitish Kumar and his party.
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Nitish Kumar, who has been the prime minister of Bihar for over 14 years, won the 2015 assembly elections alongside the RJD, but switched sides in 2017 when he left the Grand Alliance and joined the BJP-led NDA. . Nitish Kumar had said at the time that the corruption cases against Deputy Prime Minister Tejashwi Yadav were the main reason for leaving the Grand Alliance.
There are other coalitions in the running in this 2020 Bihar Assembly election. Nominees from the Democratic Progressive Alliance (PDA), an alliance of the Jan Adhikar Party (JAP), the Azad Samaj Party, the Bahujan Mukti Party (BMP) and the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), are also in the fray. The Great Secular Democratic Front (GDSF) of the Rashtriya Lok Samta Party (RLSP), the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Janwadi (Socialist) Party and All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) led by Asaduddin Owaisi is another contender. in the Bihar assembly polls this year.
Also Read: What To Look For In Bihar Survey Results Today
Among the 243 constituencies of the Bihar assembly, the most watched will be the Raghopur seat in the Vaishali district, where Tejashwi Yadav is seeking re-election. Raghopur has been represented in the past by his parents Lalu Prasad and Rabri Devi, both former chief ministers. Nitish Kumar is a member of the legislative council and has not contested this year’s assembly elections.
Another seat will be Hasanpur in the Samastipur district, from where Tejashwi’s older brother, Tej Pratap Yadav, participates. Tuesday’s count will also decide the political fate of almost a score of ministers. They include Nand Kishore Yadav in Patna Sahib, Pramod Kumar in Motihari, Rana Randhir in Madhuban, Suresh Sharma in Muzaffarpur, Shrawon Kumar in Nalanda, Jai Kumar Singh in Dinara and Krishnanandan Prasad Verma in Jehanabad.
The fate of the “bahubalis” or leaders known for their heavy-handed tactics will also be closely watched. Anant Singh from Mokama and Reetlal Yadav from Danapur, who are vying for RJD tickets, are among these criminal-turned-politicians in the state.
There are several newcomers who are trying their luck in the elections of this Bihar assembly. In Bankipur, rookie in the congressional poll Luv Sinha, son of actor-turned-politician Shatrughan Sinha, is up against four-time BJP lawmaker Nitin Nabin. Other candidates in the fray are the chairman of the Plural Party, Pushpam Priya, and the independent and academic candidate of the University of Oxford, Manish Barriarr.
Also read: Nitish Kumar or Tejashwi Yadav? Verdict day in Bihar
It can also revive the fortunes of the three left-wing parties, the CPI, the CPI-M and the CPI-ML, which have failed to register on the electoral stage in the last two decades.
Pandemic shadow
Election commission officials and district administration officials will need to convince supporters of political parties not to overcrowd counting centers amid the coronavirus pandemic. Prohibition orders will also be implemented outside the counting centers to prevent people from gathering in large numbers, authorities said.
“The Electoral Commission handed over 19 companies of paramilitary forces to guard the security cameras. They are the most intimate nucleus of the security of the counting centers. There are 59 companies of paramilitary forces to maintain public order in the state. The inner core is being guarded by the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF), then there is the Bihar Military Police (BMP) and then the district police, ”Bihar’s electoral chief HR Srinivasa said on Monday.
“Inside the counting centers, there is surveillance 24 hours a day, 7 days a week by CCTV and the security rooms have been closed and controlled by paramilitary forces. Candidates can sit outside the counting centers to monitor and receive live broadcast. Everyone who visits the counting center, then, has kept a log book. The greatest care has been taken to ensure that the counting center is safe, ”he added.
Jitendra Kumar, the additional director general of the police (headquarters), said that the Bihar Military Police and local police will also collaborate, while senior officials will keep watch through screens connected to CCTV cameras installed in the counting centers.
The Congress party has ordered its top leaders to take their place in all 38 districts and closely monitor EVMs that are kept in strong rooms to count on Tuesday for fear that rivals may engage in “foul play.” The party has sent high-level leaders, including Secretary General Randeep Singh Surjewala and Avinash Pande, chairman of the selection panel of the Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee, to Patna.
(With contributions from the agency)
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