Bihar’s sixth and final phase of Assembly polls being held on Saturday in 26 constituencies in the state’s south-western Maoist belt hold just as much significance for the ruling JD(U)-BJP as for the main Opposition parties in neck-to-neck contests almost everywhere.
The Maoists’ repeated public calls for boycotting the polls has resulted in unprecedented security arrangements around the 6,761 polling booths in five districts where 60.08 lakh eligible voters would exercise their franchise to elect 26 legislators out of the total 426 candidates, including 43 women and 159 Independent nominees, in the fray. Apart from the deep Maoist penetration, the five districts — Gaya, Aurangabad, Rohtas, Kaimur and Buxar — have been infamous for the strong caste consciousness among the people and the caste-spurred massacres in the past.
These districts are currently under a crippling drought.
With top leaders from all major parties having vigorously campaigned for the 26 seats, close contests are expected in every seat and predicting a voting trend in advance has turned just as hazardous for political pundits as in the earlier five phases of polls that began on October 21. While the Congress and the BSP have fielded candidates in all the 26 seats, the ruling JD(U) and its ally BJP are contesting in 16 and 10 seats, respectively. The RJD and LJP have fielded candidates in 22 and four seats.