Patna, October 24: The second phase of Assembly polls is under Naxal shadow in Bihar, a day after a landmine explosion killed five policemen. From Jammu and Kashmir to Patna security has been tightened ahead of the second phase of polling on Sunday.
Forty-five constituencies, 623 candidates and almost 1 crore voters will cast their ballots in the six districts of Sheohar, Samastipur, Muzaffarpur, Darbhanga, Sitamarhi and parts of East Champaran in this phase.
Some key candidates whose fate will be decided today including the RJD and JD(U) state unit chiefs as well as LJP leader Ram Vilas Paswan’s brother.
Naxals triggered a landmine explosion in Bihar’s Sheohar district on late Friday night killing six policemen. In the wake of the attack now the polling would end by 3 pm instead of 5 pm.
BJP-JD(U) is strong in Tirhut, Mithilanchal regions as well Samastipur, Darbhanga and parts of Muzaffarpur
The Region going to the polls was once an RJD stronghold between 1995 and 2000.
The RJD-LJPs vote share was higher than that of BJP-JD(U) five years ago.
Bihar Key candidates
Abdul Bari Siddiqui – RJD
Alinagar
RJD State Chief
Vijay Kumar Choudhary – JD(U)
Sarairanjan
JD(U) State Chief
Shahid Ali Khan – JD(U)
Sursand
Science and Tech minister
Ramchandra Paswan – LJP
Kuseshwarsthan
Ram Vilas Paswan’s brother and former MP
Ramai Ram – JD(U)
Bochahan
Former RJD minister, who moved from the RJD to the Congress in 2009.
——–Agencies