Bihar Assembly Elections 2020: Here are 8 key constituencies up for polls in Phase 1

With 71 assembly seats are up for polls in phase 1 of  Bihar polls, the triangular battle between the Nitish Kumar-led NDA, Tejashwi Yadav-led Mahagathbandhan and LJP chief Chirag Paswan has heated up with sharp jabs and personal attacks flung by all three leaders against each other. The incumbent CM Nitish Kumar banks on his 15-year consecutive term, eyeing another term while Tejashwi Yadav eyes his maiden term - stepping out of his father Lalu Yadav's shadow. Paswan - who is still reeling from his father Ram Vilas Paswan's untimely death - has taken a bizarre pro-BJP, anti-Nitish stance. Both young leaders- Tejashwi and Chirag have refrained from commenting on each other, in a bid to sway the anti-incumbency factor.

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PHASE 1 KEY CONSTITUENCIES:

The 71 seats up for polls belong to the Bhojpur and Patliputra-Magadh regions, which have been witnessing several caste-based violence for decades. Caste concentration is these regions favour the upper-caste Bhumihars, along with huge population of  Yadavs, Kurmis, EBCs and Mahadalits. While this factor worked in the favour of the 2015 Mahagathbandhan, which trumped the BJP's pro-Hindu and Modi wave, the factor has been consciously diminished by the leaders this team. With most netas focussing on jobs, infrastructure, health, education etc, the turbulent caste issues have taken a backseat this poll season.

But not diminishing the caste factor, poll pundits observe that this region has heavily favoured Nitish Kumar - irrespective of which side he has stood with. Tejashwi has aggressively campaigned these regions, attracting huge crowds at his rallies - hinting at a close battle. Here the 8 key constituencies in these regions

Bihar elections 2020: Here are 10 key electoral battles to watch out for in Phase 1

Dinara: A JDU bastion, Bihar Science and Tech minister Jai Prakash Singh. faces a BJP rebel - Rajendra Singh - who is contesting from an LJP seat and RJD's Vijay Kumar Mandal and RLSP's Rajesh Singh. With a sizable Thakur and Yadav population in the region - LJP's Rajendra Singh holds the advantage - having been a senior RSS functionary for 37 years. Rajendra Singh had contested against Jai Prakash Singh in 2015 and lost.

Imamganj: The key battleground for former CM and Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) Jitan Ram Manjhi has locked horns with 4-time MLA and veteran Dalit leader RJD's Uday Narayan Choudhary. While Manjhi is the sitting MLA of Imamganj, Choudhary who flipped from JDU to RJD after losing to Manjhi in 2015 - has the home advantage having held the seat since 1990. The other main candidates are Jitendra Kumar Paswan of RLSP and LJP's Shobha Sinha. The assembly seat has a diverse mix of rich upper-caste Hindus and backward caste Muslims - witnessing several bloody riots from upper-caste fringe bodies like the Ranvir Sena, Lorik Sena, Bhoomi Sena, Kisan Sangh and others.

Ghosi: State education minister and sitting MLA Krishna Nandan Prasad faces Independent candidate Rakesh Kumar Singh. Singh who had contested in 2015 on a HAM seat had lost to Prasad by a margin of 21,625 votes. During the poll rally in October, crowds booed Prasad, raising questions over Bihar's poor higher education and ongoing teaching post vacancies. With 40% government school vacancies, people have demanded Nitish Kumar to fill these posts  - like he had done in his first term as CM.

Mokama: RJD has fielded don-turned-politician Anant Singh - who is currently lodged in Beur central jail in a case under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act,  with two dozens of criminal cases pending against him. Anant Singh known by the nickname Chhote Sarkar here had started off as a candidate of the JD(U) in 2005 when the party, in alliance with the BJP, brought an end to the RJD-Congress rule. His wife has been campaigning in his name this time. Singh faces JDU's Rajiv Lochan Singh, seeking re-election for the fifth consecutive time. Rajiv Lochan Singh has been associated with the 'Sangh Parivar' for decades but is contesting on a JDU ticket for the first time. Mokama has traditionally been represented by 'Bahubalis' from the Bhumihar caste for the past two decades, with the upper caste domination prevalent.

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Dumraon: A traditional bastion of Rajput and Brahmin - has been held by JDU for the past ten years. This time around JDU has fielded Anjum Ara to face CPI (ML) Ajit Kumar Kushwaha and Independent candidate Shivang Vijay Singh. The three-way battle is close as Shivang- a hotel management graduate  - is the grandson of the late Maharaja Kamal Singh, who represented Buxar Lok Sabha seat as an Independent for two consecutive terms 1952 and 1957.

Brahampur: This Congress bastion which turned into an RJD stronghold in 1995 for Lalu Yadav is witnessing an interesting triangular battle between VIP's  Jayraj Chaudhary, sitting RJD MLA Shambhu Nath Singh Yadav, and LJP’s Hulas Pandey. While the BJP had turned the tide in 2010, with Dilmarni Devi defeating the RJD, this is the first time in four decades that BJP has not fielded any candidate - giving the seat to its ally VIP. The seat has been dominated by the Bhumihars, the Yadavs and brahmans, but has a sizeable backward caste population too.

Tarapur: This constituency will witness a three-way battle between sitting MLA Mewa Lal Choudhary of the Janata Dal(United), Divya Prakash of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Mina Devi of the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP). The SC-reserved seat will also see four women candidates challenge the sitting MLA and RJD"s Divya Prakash, daughter of Purvanchal leader and former Union Minister Jayaprakash Narayan Yadav. Choudhary had won from the Tarapur assembly constituency in 2015, defeating HAM's Sakuni Choudhary by polling 43.62% of the votes.

Kahalgaon: A Congress bastion since independence will see Congress' Shubhanand Mukesh - son of 9-time MLA Sadanand Singh face BJP's Pawan Kumar Yadav. While Sadanand Singh had managed to win the seat during the emergency at the peek of the JP movement, Yadav who had rebelled against the NDA candidate in 2015, had received a high number of votes. The Congress has won 12 of 16 elections since Independence in this seat.

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