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Patna,(BiharTimes): The second phase of poll for the 45 seats, which took place in the six districts of Bihar, was slightly different from the first phase as here the contest was almost straight with Congress hardly any existence in most of the seats.
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Unlike in the Muslim-dominated north-east Bihar, where the Grand Old Party still manages to have some clout, in this Socialists heartland of second phase the battle is almost neck and neck.
The percentage of Muslim-Yadav voters are less but Paswans are numerically very strong in parts of Samastipur, Muzaffarpur, Darbhanga etc.
On the other hand Koeris, who are teaming up with the Kurmis, are strong in Samastipur while Sahni or Nishad (the boatmen and fishermen), who are militant Extremely Backward Caste have palapable presence in the riverine pockets of Muzaffarpur and Samastipur. So the battle seems to be very interesting and evenly poised.
This pocket of Bihar had in the past been the nursery of the Socialist movement with Samastipur being the birth place of the chief minister Karpoori Thakur. His son Ramnath Thakur, a minister in the Nitish cabinet, was locked in a tough battle with Rashtriya Janata Dal’s young leader, Shaheen.
It needs to be recalled that it is from Sitamarhi that Acharya J B Kripalani won the parliamentary election on the ticket of Praja Socialist Party in 1957. Another Socialist stalwart, George Fernandes, chose Muzaffarpur to contest Lok Sabha election several times––first time after Emergency in 1977 and last time unsuccessfully last year.
Now a large part of this Socialist bastion had become a stronghold of the Maoists, especially the bordering districts with Nepal.
Though their boycott call had no impact the Maoists succeeded in inflicting casualties to policemen two days before the poll. They also abducted polling officials, but relased them later.
Unlike in the Muslim-dominated north-east Bihar, where the BJP is strong here the three off-shoots of the Socialist movement have strong presence. However, one of them Janata Dal (United) is in alliance with the BJP while the other two––RJD and LJP––have joined hands.
Apart from Ram Nath Thakur, the fate of state minor irrigation minister, Dinesh Kushwaha and the lone Muslim minister in the Nitish cabinet, Shahid Ali Khan, was sealed in the EVMs.
The two senior Congress contenders in this 45 seats are both pitted against strong candidates of the rival parties. For example senior party leader, Madan Mohan Jha, was locked in a tri-angular contest with Abdul Bari Siddiqui, the state president of RJD in Alinagar constituency in Darbhanga while Ashok Ram, the leader of Congress Legislature Party, was contesting from Kusheshwar and that too in Darbhanga. Here the brother of Ram Vilas Paswan and former MP, Ram Chandra Paswan, is also in the fray and posing a tough challenge to him.
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