My Columns: Without Fear and Favour

Fourth Phase of Bihar Elections: Some Interesting Facts By Deepak Parvatiyar October 31, 2015 Elections in the penultimate round of the five-phase Bihar assembly elections will take place for 55 seats in seven districts of North Bihar – East Champaran, West Champaran, Muzaffarpur, Sitamarhi, Gopalganj, Siwan, and Sheohar – on 1 November. Out of 55 constituencies, 12 are affected by Maoist insurgency. The fourth phase is crucial for the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the BJP as they are contesting on maximum seats for their respective alliances – the Grand Alliance or the Mahagathbandhan, and the National Democratic Alliance – in this crucial phase. While the BJP is contesting on 42 of the 55 seats, the RJD is contesting 26 seats. What is significant is that the RJD has got the lion’s share in seats in the region even when its alliance partner, the Janata Dal – United, had won 25 seats in the 2010 Assembly elections in the region. However, at that time, the JD(U) was in alli...

Elections. in India's 1st Elections website Home » Blog » Summary of Bihar Phase-3 Election Summary of Bihar Phase-3 Election By Deepak Parvatiyar October 29, 2015 5.00/5 (100.00%) 1 vote The 53.32% voter turnout in the third phase of elections on October 28 was almost three per cent higher than that registered in 2010 assembly elections as well as in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections in these districts: Bhojpur, Buxar, Nalanda, Patna, Saran, and Vaishali. However, the turnout in this phase for the 50 assembly seats – highest number of seats going to polls thus far – was still comparatively lesser than the average 55.67% turnout of voters in the first two phases of polling. (57% in first phase and 55% in second phase). Greater Participation of Women An important feature of Bihar elections this time is larger participation of women in polling. Like in the first two phases, this time too, the women voters outnumbered their male counterparts with 54% women casti...