The prestige of the NDA remains on stake in the fourth phase of Bihar elections as five Lok Sabha constituencies go to polls on Monday. The reason behind it is that all the five seats such as Darbhanga, Begusarai, Ujiyarpur, Munger and Samastipur are currently held by the NDA, first three by the BJP and the last two by the LJP. What should be a matter of worry for the NDA is that on most of the seats, the contest is straight this time.
Moreover, the poll scene has undergone a complete change this time. Of the two BJP sitting MPs, Darbhanga MP Kirti Azad has quit the BJP to join the Congress whereas the Begusarai MP Bhola Prasad Singh is no more and in his place union minister Giriraj Singh has been fielded from there. Same is the case with Munger seat which is currently held by the LJP but now it has gone to the JD-U’s share after the latter returned to the NDA camp recently.
Of all, the poll scene is quite much interesting in Begusarai where CPI candidate Kanhaiya is giving sleepless nights to both his two rivals BJP candidate Singh and RJD nominee Tanveer Hasan. While a host of Bollywood artists and intellectuals actively campaigned for Kanhaiya, top NDA leaders such BJP chief Amit Shah and chief minister Nitish launched intensive campaigns in favour of BJP candidate.
READ | Lok Sabha Elections 2019 Phase 4 Live Updates
What was more interesting, Bihar chief minister himself addressed as many as three rallies for Giriraj Singh ignoring his controversial remarks about Muslims.
In his speech, Singh had said the Muslims should chant “Vande Matram” if they want three yards of land for graveyards, prompting the authorities to register a case against him for poll code violation.
On the other hand, the RJD candidate has got the support of only Tejashwi Yadav in the absence of his father Lalu Prasad who is in jail. Similarly, the contest has turned very interesting in Ujiyarpur seat where the heads of two political parties are locked in straight contest tate BJP president Nityanand Rai and Rashtriya Lok Samata Party chief Upendra Kushwaha.
Interestingly, both are sitting MPs while Rai currently holds this seat, RLSP parliamentarian Kushwaha is trying his luck from this seat in addition to Karakat that he represents in Lok Sabha.