BIHAR FINAL PHASE: 3.7 CR VOTERS TO DECIDE FATE OF 1,302 CANDIDATES ACROSS 122 SEATS

Electoral fortunes of 1,302 candidates, including over half a dozen ministers in the Nitish Kumar government, will be sealed on Tuesday with 3.70 crore voters eligible to exercise their franchise across 122 assembly segments in the second and final phase of the Bihar polls.

- TDG NETWORK

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The districts going to polls on November 11 include West Champaran, East Champaran, Sitamarhi, Madhubani, Supaul, Araria and Kishanganj, and all these share borders with Nepal.

Security has been beefed up across Bihar for the second phase of the assembly polls with over 4 lakh personnel engaged in election duties, officials said.

Most of these districts fall in the Seemanchal region, which has a high concentration of Muslim population, making it a high-stakes battle for both the INDIA bloc, which banks on the support of the minority community, as well as the ruling NDA, which alleges that the opposition is “protecting infiltrators”.

Prominent candidates include Bijendra Prasad Yadav, a veteran JD(U) leader and the most senior member of the state cabinet, who seeks to retain his Supaul seat for a record eighth term.

Similar is the case of his cabinet colleague Prem Kumar, who belongs to the BJP and is trying his luck from Gaya Town, which he has won seven times, on the trot, since 1990.