Bihar gears up for phase 1 voting; know key battlegrounds, top contenders

The campaign for the first phase of the Bihar assembly elections, covering 121 seats, ended on Tuesday evening, setting the stage for polling on November 6. The high-decibel campaign closed at 6 pm, with top national and regional leaders holding back-to-back rallies across key constituencies.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah addressed three rallies, while Defence Minister Rajnath Singh held five public meetings. BJP president JP Nadda led a roadshow and addressed a rally, while Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi held three meetings.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacted virtually with the BJP’s women workers in Bihar, while Chief Minister Nitish Kumar addressed multiple gatherings. RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav crisscrossed the state with a packed schedule of rallies.

Other leaders who joined the final campaign day included Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma, Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath, Delhi CM Rekha Gupta, and former Union minister Smriti Irani.

Key battleground in Phase 1 

Among the prominent seats going to polls in the first phase are Raghopur, where Tejashwi Yadav is contesting, and Mahua, where his brother Tej Pratap Yadav is running with a new political outfit. Tarapur, where Deputy CM Samrat Choudhary is contesting, is also in focus.

Other high-stakes constituencies include Alinagar, where singer Maithili Thakur is contesting on a BJP ticket; Lakhisarai, the seat of Deputy CM Vijay Kumar Sinha; and Mokama, where JD(U)’s Anant Singh—currently under arrest in a murder case—faces his rival Dular Chand Yadav. In Raghunathpur, RJD’s Osama Shahab, son of late gangster-turned-politician Md Shahabuddin, is also in the fray.

Polling for the remaining 122 seats in the 243-member Bihar Assembly will take place on November 11, and votes will be counted on November 14.