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Amid
threats of Maoist violence, Bihar polls enter last lap
Friday November 19, 2010 05:54:05 PM,
IANS
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Patna: The six-phased
Bihar elections enters the last lap Saturday when 26
constituencies, 18 of them in Maoist strongholds, go to the polls
with officials fervently hoping that the exercise proceeds as
peacefully as the earlier rounds.
Caste arithmetic, rampant corruption, rule of law and development
will be on the anvil as 426 candidates test their luck in the
elections being held in five drought-hit districts of Gaya,
Aurangabad, Rohtas, Kaimur and Buxar.
The stakes are high in this make-or-mar electoral exercise for
both Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, seeking the people's mandate for
another term, and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad,
desperate to scramble to power in his home state.
While Nitish Kumar, who heads the Janata Dal-United (JD-U) has
alliance partner Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for company, Lalu
Prasad has tied up with Ram Vilas Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party (LJP).
About six million voters, who are eligible to vote, will decide
the fate of the two rival camps.
"The last round will witness a close fight and caste will be a key
factor to decide the outcome. Rampant corruption at the district
to block level will also be an issue," political watcher Soroor
Ahmad told IANS.
Another analyst, Satyanarain Madan, added that caste could
overshadow other factors at the ground level.
The ruling coalition is banking heavily on the support of upper
castes, extremely backward castes and Mahadalits along with other
backward castes, including voters from Nitish Kumar's own caste
Kurmi, Koeris and Muslims.
However, the RJD-LJP candidates are hoping to bag the votes of
their traditional base -- Yadavs, Paswans and Muslims. They are
hoping to dent the upper castes vote base, unhappy with Nitish
Kumar over a proposed law to protect farm tenants.
The region, infamous for caste massacres due to rivalry between
the Maoists and the upper caste militia Ranvir Sena, also has
strong pockets of supporters of the Bahujan Samaj Party of Uttar
Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati and the Communist Party of
India-Marxist Leninist (CPI-ML).
The Congress, which won only nine seats in the last election, is
making all efforts to make a difference in the last round.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her son, party general
secretary Rahul Gandhi, both campaigned in the last round in the
hope of mustering more votes.
Other top leaders too made it a point to be in Bihar in this phase
in a last ditch effort to garner votes. These included BJP's L.K.
Advani and Rajnath Singh.
The run-up was marked by Maoist guerrillas attempting to derail
the process by torching campaign vehicles, blasting bridges and
pasting posters calling for a poll boycott.
Officials admitted that ensuring safe polling in this phase would
be challenging for the Election Commission as well as the state
government.
The Election Commission has cut down polling hours in 18 of the 26
constituencies.
"The balloting will take place in 18 constituencies in the
Maoist-affected areas only till 3 p.m.; in the remaining
constituencies it will end at 5 p.m.," an official said.
The first five phases to pick a new 243-member legislative
assembly have passed off peacefully except for stray incidents of
violence.
The outlawed Communist Party of India-Maoist earlier this month
vowed to intensify attacks to disrupt the election process and
enforce its boycott of the polls. As many as 33 of Bihar's 38
districts are Maoist-affected.
Votes will be counted Nov 24.
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