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Fifth Phase of Bihar Elections: Some Interesting Facts

By Deepak Parvatiyar

November 3, 2015

5.00/5 (100.00%) 2 votes

The grueling electioneering now comes to an end as Bihar gears up for the final fifth phase of polling to be held in 57 assembly constituencies of nine districts that also comprise the Muslim dominated Seemanchal region of the state comprising Araria, Purnea, Kishanganj and Katihar districts, on November 5.
The districts going to polls in the fifth phase are Araria, Darbhanga, Katihar, Kishanganj, Madhepura, Madhubani, Purnia, Saharsa, and Supaul.
The fifth phase has the highest number of voters as compared to any other previous phase of polling. Among the districts, both Darbhanga and Madhubani have ten assembly constituencies each but Madhubani has largest 144 contestants in the fray followed by Darbhanga with 131 and Purnea, which has seven assembly constituencies, with 128 candidates in the fray. Saharsa, Madhepura and Kishanganj have the lowest numbers of just four assembly constituencies each in phase five.
Elections in the region has become interesting following the entry of Asaduddin Owaisi’s All-India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) maiden entry into Bihar elections by fielding six candidates (a significant climbdown from its earlier decision to field 24 candidates) in Seemanchal.
Unlike the earlier four phases that were largely perceived to be a direct contest between the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance and the ruling Grand Alliance or Mahagathbandan comprising of the Janata Dal (United), Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Congress, the fifth phase appears a multi-cornered contest given the clout of Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav in the region that makes his  political outfit, Jan Adhikar Party Loktantrik, which is a constituent of the Third Front led by Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav, a serious player in the Seemanchal region. The JAP(L) has fielded 40 candidates in the region.
At least 10 of the 24 assembly seats in Seemanchal are dominated by Muslims and this is a significant chunk. If at all polarization of votes could play a major role to benefit the BJP, that would be in these segments. It is in this light that impact of comments of BJP President Amit Shah that if the BJP loses in Bihar would result in celebrations in Pakistan, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who invoked the 1984 Sikh riots during his election rallies in the region on November 2, need to be analysed.
Of the four Seemanchal districts, Kishanganj bordering Bangladesh has an overwhelming 67.98 per cent Muslim population while Araria and Katihar have well over forty per cent Muslim population (42.98% and 44.47% respectively). Purnea has nearly 40 per cent Muslim population.
Although Seemanchal accounts for hardly 10 per cent of the total seats in Bihar Assembly, it is crucial for the BJP’s scheme of things – to test its winnability in a Muslim dominated region.
It may be mentioned that the Congress and Rashtriya Janata Dal had fared miserably in the region and could win only two and one seats respectively in the state assembly elections in 2010. The JD-U was then was an ally of the BJP and had won four assembly seats in Seemanchal then. However things changed drastically against  the BJP after its split with the JD(U) as it lost its three Lok Sabha seats in Seemanchal— Araria, Purnea and Katihar — in the 2014 general elections.
Following are some interesting facts about the regions that go to polls during fifth phase on November 5 in Bihar:
Total Constituencies to go to poll in the fifth phase: 57
Total Candidates in the fray in the fifth phase: 827
Total number of female candidates in the fifth phase: 58

Party-wise break up of candidates in the fray in the fifth phase
Bahujan Samaj Party – 55	Communist Party of India – 20
JAP(L) – 40	CPI(M) – 13
Bharatiya Janata Party – 38	Indian National Congress – 12
Samajwadi Party – 26	LJP – 11
Janata Dal (United) – 25	Rashtriya Lok Samata Party – 5
CPI(ML)(L) – 23	Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) – 3
Rashtriya Janata Dal – 20	Independents — 262

Total Polling Station – 14,061
Total Voters in the fifth phase: 1,54,92,369

·         Male Voters – 81,65,505

·         Female Voters – 73,26,426

• Third Gender –  438

Key Issues: The issue of communal polarization is dominant in the region given its large Muslim population. Influx of Bangladeshi illegal migrants is another issue. The larger issues of corruption, crime, backwardness and development though remain the same in this phase too.
Results on these 57 seats in 2010

·         Janata Dal (United) – 20 (Araria – 1, Darbhanga – 2, Katihar –1, Madhepura – 3, Madhubani –4, Purnea –2, Saharsa – 2, Supaul –5  )

·         Bharatiya Janata party – 23 (Araria – 4, Darbhanga – 6, Katihar – 4, Kishanganj – 2, Madhepura –0,  Madhubani –3, Purnea – 3, Saharsa—1, Supaul — 0)

·         Rashtriya Janata Dal – 8 (Darbhanga – 2, Kishanganj – 1, Madhepura – 1, Madhubani – 3, Saharsa –1)

·         Lok Janshakti Party – 2  (Araria –1, Kishanganj –1)

·         Congress – 3 (Kishanganj – 2, Purnea – 1)

• Independent – 1 (Katihar – 1)

Crorepati candidates in the fifth phase – 182
Average assets of candidates in the fifth phase – Rs. 85.82 lakh
Total candidates with assets more than Rs 10 crore – 8 (0.9%)
Total candidates with assets between Rs. 5 crore and Rs. 10 crore – 17 (2.06%)  
Party-wise break-up of crorepati candidates in the fifth phase
Independents – 49, BJP – 24, JD(U) – 18, RJD – 12, SP – 10, LJP – 9, INC – 5, CPI – 5, Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) –1
Party-wise percentage of Crorepati Candidates in the fifth phase
LJP – 81%, JD(U) – 72%, BJP – 63%, RJD – 60%, INC – 42%, SP – 38%, CPI – 25%, Independents – 19%
Party-wise average assets per candidate in fifth phase
RJD –  Rs 3.13 crore, LJP – Rs 3.06 crore, BJP — Rs 2.29 crore, JD(U) – Rs 2.16 crore, SP – Rs 1.89 crore, Congress– Rs 1.61 crore, HAM (S) – Rs. 1.33 crore, RLSP – Rs. 1.08 crore, CPI — Rs 55 lakh, Independents – Rs. 70 lakh
Richest and poorest candidates in the fifth phase

• Richest Candidates:

a)  Vijay Kumar Mishra, Independent, Araria Constituency in Araria district – Assets worth over Rs 23.68 crore
b) Sunil Chaudhary, JD(U), Benipur Consitituency in Darbhanga district – Assets worth over Rs 14.23 crore
c)  Mujeeb Rahman, SP, Jale Constituency in Darbhanga district – Assets worth over Rs 13.85 crore
Poorest Candidates:  Hatim, Janata Dal Rashtrawadi, Sikti Constituency in Araria District – Rs. 600 worth assets declared.
Non Declaration of PAN – In all, 366 (44%) candidates in the fifth phase of Bihar elections have not provided their PAN details in their declaration form.
Age groups of candidates in the fifth phase

·         Number of candidates between 25-50 age group – 571

o    25-30 year age group – 85 candidates

o    31-40 year age group – 236 candidates

o    41-50 year age group – 250 candidates

·         Number of candidates between 51-80 age group — 253

o    51-60 year age group – 167 candidates

o    61-70 year age group – 73 candidates

o    71-80 year age group — 13

·         Number of candidates above 80 years -- 1

• Two candidates have not declared their age details

Educational Qualification of Candidates in the fifth phase

·         Graduate and above – 315

o    Doctorate – 24

o    Post Graduates – 103

o    Graduates with professional degrees – 39

o    Graduates – 149

o    Between 5th pass and 12th pass – 395

§  12th Pass – 175

§  10th Pass – 151

§  8th Pass — 59

§  5th Pass – 10

§  Simple Literates — 100

• Illiterates — 7

Candidates with criminal records in the fifth phase – 254 (31%)
Constituencies with highest number of candidates with criminal records – Balrampur, Bisfi, Jhanjharpur, Kishanganj and Rupauli with 8 candidates each with criminal records
Number of constituencies with three or more candidates with criminal records in the third phase – 42 (82%)
Candidates facing serious criminal cases related to murder, attempt to murder, Kidnapping, crimes against women, causing communal disharmony, etc. – 193(23%)
Number of candidates facing murder charges – 15
Candidates with highest number of murder charges

• Mahboob Alam, Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation, Balrampur constituency, faces 3 murder cases.

Party-wise candidates with criminal records in the fifth phase
BJP – 21	Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation – 12
JAP(L) – 21	SP – 12
BSP – 16	CPI – 11
RJD – 10	Congress – 7
CPI(M) – 9	Independents – 55
JD(U) – 13

Party-wise percentage of candidates with criminal record in Phase 5
CPI (M) — 69%	CPI – 55%
RJD – 50%	SP – 46%
JAP(L) — 53%	INC – 58%
JD(U) – 52%	BSP – 29%
CPI)ML)(L) –52%	Independents – 21%
BJP – 55%

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