Nine sitting Ministers in fray for second phase of Bihar polls tomorrow

Patna, Nov 10 (IANS) The second phase of polling for the Bihar Assembly will take place on Tuesday in 122 constituencies spread across 20 districts.

A total of 1,302 candidates are in the fray -- including nine sitting Ministers and 15 former Ministers.

This phase features several prestige battles.

On at least five seats, Mahagathbandhan allies are in "friendly fights" against each other.

A number of family members of senior leaders are also contesting.

Former Union Minister Upendra Kushwaha's wife Snehlata Kushwaha is contesting from Sasaram, while the daughter-in-law of Union Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi -- Deepa Manjhi -- is in the fray from Imamganj.

Jyoti Devi, the current MLA from Barachatti and Manjhi's sister-in-law, is also contesting.

The outcomes in these constituencies carry personal and symbolic stakes for the leaders concerned.

A total of 45,399 polling stations have been set up for this phase.

Seven booths are classified as hyper-sensitive.

Security and logistical arrangements have been intensified.

Nine ministers from the Nitish Kumar Cabinet are contesting in this phase -- Bijendra Prasad Yadav (Supaul), Sumit Kumar Singh (Chakai), Mohd Zama Khan (Chainpur), Leshi Singh (Dhamdaha), Krishna Nandan Paswan (Harsidhi), Renu Devi (Bettiah), Neeraj Kumar Bablu (Chhatapur), Nitish Mishra (Jhanjharpur), Prem Kumar (Gaya), Sheila Mandal (Phulparas), Vijay Mandal (Sikti), and Jayant Raj Kushwaha (Amarpur).

Many of them are facing visible anti-incumbency -- making the second phase particularly critical for the ruling coalition.

Several key faces from the Mahagathbandhan are also putting their reputations on the line in the second phase.

Former Assembly Speaker Uday Narayan Chaudhary (RJD), State Congress President Rajesh Ram, Congress Legislature Party leader Shakeel Ahmed Khan, and CPI-ML Legislature Party leader Mehboob Alam are among those contesting.

The Grand Alliance's booth management and seat-specific micro-strategy in these constituencies will be closely watched.

The Kargahar seat in Rohtas district is among the most talked-about constituencies in this phase.

Prashant Kishor, architect of Jan Suraaj Party, hails from this region -- naturally drawing heightened attention to this seat.

Jan Suraaj has fielded Bhojpuri singer Ritesh Pandey from here.

The sitting MLA Santosh Mishra is in the fray again on a Congress ticket.

The CPI has also fielded a candidate, making the contest triangular.

Close contests are also being reported in Narkatiaganj, Chainpur, Kargahar, Kahalgaon, Sultanganj and Jamui (Sikandra).

In several of these constituencies, Mahagathbandhan allies are engaged in friendly fights -- creating triangular or multi-cornered contests.

--IANS

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