Lok Sabha Election 2019: BJP guns blaze in Bihar last lap

With four Union Ministers in fray and eight seats to defend, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has gone all in for the ultimate phase of the Lok Sabha election in Bihar, lining up top BJP brass from PM Modi and BJP president Amit Shah to Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath to ensure victory of their candidates.

Of the eight seats going to polls on May 19 in Bihar, BJP had won five in 2014, while then ally RLSP had bagged two. The JD(U), which is now a part of the NDA, had then won Nalanda. Thus, the onus lies on BJP-JD(U)-LJP combine to retain all these seats.

To add to NDA's prestige factor is the fact that four Union Ministers are contesting this phase – Ravi Shankar Prasad (Patna Sahib), Ram Kripal Yadav (Pataliputra), RK Singh (Arrah) and Ashwini Choubey (Buxar).

On Tuesday, PM Modi addressed two electoral meetings. In Buxar, he sought votes for Union Minister Choubey who is defending his seat against veteran RJD leader Jagdanand Singh, who had polled 20% votes in 2014 against Choubey's 35%. Modi also campaigned in favour of Union Minister Singh in Arrah, who is pitted against Left candidate Raju Yadav (CPI-ML-L). While Yadav enjoys the support of Mahagathbandhan on this seat, in 2014, he was a distant third with 11% votes against Singh's 43%.

(RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav arriving in copter at a meeting venue)

The final phase has shifted the focus to the state capital with two BJP ministers pitched on Patna Sahib and Pataliputra constituencies.

On Tuesday, Rajnath Singh addressed a public meeting in Patna Sahib asking people to press the button for his cabinet colleague Prasad, who is fighting party rebel and actor Shatrughan Sinha. Earlier, BJP president Amit Shah held a road show with Prasad to ensure that Sinha, who has twice won the seat as the BJP candidate, does not make a hat-trick as a Congress nominee. UP CM Yogi Adityanath is also slated to campaign for Prasad on Wednesday.

The neighbouring Pataliputra seat is witnessing a replay of 2014 "chacha-bhatiji" fight with Union Minister Yadav fighting RJD MP Misa Bharti, who had lost by about 40,000 votes in 2014. Bharti, the eldest daughter of ex-CMs Lalu Prasad and Rabri Devi, has Left support here.

Another interesting contest is happening in Sasaram where former LS Speaker Meira Kumar is pitted against BJP MP Chhedi Paswa, who had won by 60,000 votes in 2014.

Nalanda being the home district of Bihar CM Nitish Kumar, retaining the seat is a matter of reputation for JD(U). Here, JD(U) MP Kaushalendra Kumar is locked in a direct fight with HAM-S nominee Ashok Kumar, whose wife hails from the district.

Former Union Minister Upendra Kushwaha (RLSP) hopes to retain his forte, Karakat, against JD(U)'s Mahabali Singh. While Kushwaha is the only candidate contesting two seats in Bihar, the contest in Karakat is triangular with the entry of BSP's Ghanshyam Tiwari. The BSP, in fact, has pitched contestants in seven of these eight seats, and may upset the equation for the Grand Alliance.