Key Points

In the first phase, voting will take place on 121 assembly seats across districts, including Gopalganj, Siwan, Saran, Buxar, Bhojpur, Patna, Nalanda, Sheikhpura, Lakhisarai, Munger, Saharsa, Madhepura, Darbhanga, Samastipur, Vaishali, Muzaffarpur, and Begusarai.

In the second phase, polling will be conducted on 122 seats in West Champaran, East Champaran, Sheohar, Sitamarhi, Madhubani, Supaul, Araria, Purnea, Kishanganj, Katihar, Bhagalpur, Banka, Jamui, Nawada, Aurangabad, Rohtas, Kaimur, Gaya, Arwal, and Jehanabad.

The election holds high stakes for both the NDA and the Grand Alliance, with both camps expressing confidence about their victory in this crucial political battle.

As Bihar gears up for the 2025 Assembly election, several constituencies have drawn special attention due to high-profile candidates and political crossovers.

One of the most-watched seats will be Raghopur in Vaishali district, where Leader of the Opposition Tejashwi Yadav will contest once again.

Having won from this Yadav-dominated constituency in both 2015 and 2020, Tejashwi will look to retain his bastion for a third consecutive term.

In Mahua (Vaishali district), Tej Pratap Yadav, elder son of RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, has announced his candidature from his newly formed party, Jantantrik Janta Dal. Interestingly, he will face a strong challenge from the RJD candidate, as Mahua is traditionally considered an RJD stronghold.

In 2020, Mukesh Raushan won the seat on an RJD ticket. Tej Pratap had contested the Hasanpur seat in Samastipur in the previous election.

Another key battleground will be Lakhisarai, represented by Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Kumar Sinha, who was elected in 2020 and will seek re-election on the BJP ticket.

The Mokama seat in Patna district is also expected to witness a heated contest.

Bahubali leader Anant Singh, who was earlier with the RJD, will contest on a JD-U ticket this time.

Singh lost his seat after being convicted in an Arms Act case, following which his wife Neelam Devi won the by-poll on an RJD ticket.

The 2025 Bihar election will also be a litmus test for several rebel leaders.

Among them is Chetan Anand, who won from Sheohar on an RJD ticket in 2020 but later joined the JD-U during the floor test of the Nitish Kumar government in February 2024, along with Neelam Devi and Prahalad Yadav.

The latter, elected from Suryagarha (Lakhisarai district) on an RJD ticket, also switched sides.

Similarly, Sanjiv Kumar, who represented Parbatta (Khagaria district) as a JD-U MLA in 2020, recently joined the RJD.

Bima Bharti, another JD-U leader, crossed over to the RJD during the political turmoil that followed Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s floor test in February 2024.

- IANS