Amid tight security cover, polling began on Friday morning in the second phase of the Bihar assembly elections, spanning 32 constituencies spread over six Naxal-hit districts.
There are 64 vacancies in the legislative assemblies of various states and one in Lok Sabha.
While the relation between the LJP and the JD-U has long been far from smooth, Manjhi's entry in the NDA has added to its pique against the JD-U.
Presence of Fadnavis will be keenly watched in view of recent tug of war between his home state Maharashtra and Bihar over death of Sushant Singh Rajput, a Patna born Bollywood actor.
Priya, who belongs to Darbhanga but lives in London, announced the same in full-page advertisements which appeared in several Hindi and English newspapers in Bihar on Sunday.
The rout of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led alliance in the crucial assembly polls in Bihar is the "most significant domestic setback" to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, global media commented on Sunday, saying it shows that his vote-winning abilities were on the wane.
The state polls are due in October-November.
Counting of votes in the high-stakes close-to-call Bihar assembly elections, billed as a hot battle between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, will take place on Sunday.
Amit Shah's assertion puts to rest reports of growing differences between the BJP and JD-U and may end the war of words that leaders of the alliance have been having with one another.
While the polling so far has been peaceful, police had to open fire in the air in Purnia to disperse a crowd trying to disturb voting, even as people boycotted polling at 12 booths in Katihar in protest against barriers not being set up at two railway crossings.
Bihar assembly elections which are to be announced shortly are expected to be five-phased and around 50,000 paramilitary personnel will be deployed in each phase to ensure peaceful polling.
Assembly elections in Bihar, where the Bharatiya Janata Party is set for a battle against a united Janata Parivar, are likely to be held sometime in September-October when extensive central forces and a reworked expenditure monitoring system will be deployed to curb money and muscle power.
Amid speculation over the fate of alliance between the Janata Dal-United and Rashtriya Janata Dal ahead of the crucial Bihar polls, JD-U President Sharad Yadav on Thursday insisted that both the parties will fight the assembly polls in the state together in alliance with the Congress to challenge a resurgent Bharatiya Janata Party.
An entirely new lexicon of political jibes emerged during the elections
While the notification for the first phase would be issued on Friday, that for the other three phases would be done on September 28, October 19 and 26.
As Bihar awaits the results in the much-awaited polls, Rediff.com takes a look at some of those leaders who won and lost.
An estimated 57 per cent of the electorate cast their votes in the first phase of the Bihar assembly election in 49 constituencies on a violence-free note on Monday.
Curtains came down on Tuesday evening on campaigning for 57 seats going to poll in the fifth and last phase of bitterly-fought Bihar assembly elections on November five, with acrimonious exchanges provoking showcause notices from the Election Commission to top leaders of rival alliances.
Want a detailed break-up of the winners and losers of Bihar?
Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Monday summoned party general secretary in-charge of Bihar Mukul Wasnik and asked him to explain his position on the allegation that he had sough financial favours to allot seats in the recent Bihar assembly elections, where the party faced a thorough drubbing.
Chief Election Commissioner B B Tandon on Sunday came out in strong defence of EC Adviser K J Rao, who has been under attack from Congress and Rashtriya Janata Dal in the wake of his tough handling of poll irregularities.\n
The Janata Dal-United-Bharatiya Janata Party combine on Wednesday headed for a massive sweep in the assembly elections in Bihar to come back to power for a second continuous term and may notch a three-fourth majority, steamrolling over the Rashtriya Janata Dal-Lok Janshakti Party alliance.
The scale of victory could be gauged from the fact that from 143 seats in the 2005 elections, Kumar's campaign on the basis of his government's performance helped the ruling alliance notch a spectacular tally of 206 seats in the 243-member House.
Barring a few exceptions, most known criminal-politicians and their wives, who contested the Bihar assembly polls emerged winners on Wednesday. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal-United,and its ally Bharatiya Janata Party, top the list of parties with poll winners who have a criminal background.
The long-pending 'One Rank One Pension' (OROP) scheme for ex-servicemen is likely to be rolled out ahead of the assembly polls in Bihar later this year, top government sources indicated on Tuesday.
The National Democratic Alliance on Monday finalised its seat sharing for Bihar polls with the Bharatiya Janata Party contesting 160 out of the 243 assembly constituencies while allies Lok Janshkati Party and Jitan Ram Manjhi's Hindustani Awam Morcha being allotted 40 and 20 seats respectively.
Speaking to reporters, Sitharaman, a senior BJP leader, said, "It is a manifesto announcement. A party can announce what it wants to do when it comes to power. That is exactly what is announced. Health is a state subject. It is perfectly in order."
Former union minister and Lok Janshakti Party president Ram Vilas Paswan, who lost the recent Lok Sabha elections, said in Varanasi on Wednesday that his party would contest the 2010 Bihar assembly elections in alliance with Lalu Prasad-led Rashtriya Janata Dal and also welcomed Congress party to their fold.
According to insiders, Modi wants to sort out internal issues pertaining to their alliance with other regional parties (the Hindustani Awam Morcha, the Lok Janashakti Party and the Rashtriya Lok Samata Party) and ensure the combine presents a unified face before the electorate.
All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen will contest the upcoming Bihar state assembly elections from the Seemanchal region.
The Left parties said they have come together to provide an option to the public to provide "people's rule" in the true sense.
With the Congress recording its worst performance in last ten years in this assembly election in Bihar, state party chief Mehboob Ali Kaiser has decided to quit his post owning "moral responsibility" for the defeat.
Former Bihar chief minister and Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad Yadav's wife Rabri Devi lost the elections from Raghopur and Sonepur assembly seats from which she contested.
The community constitutes about 16.5 percent of the total electorate. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, aware of the figure, has been vocal in his opposition to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi campaigning in the state... For all its backward mien, Bihar has a very high political consciousness and a reason for the paradox is politics is the sole arbiter of fate in this state. And Muslims are no exception.
Lakhs of voters will vote on Thursday in first of the six-phase Bihar assembly polls to decide fate of dozens of Bahubalis, criminals- turned-politicians, and their wives who are in the fray. In 47 of 243 assembly seats going to polls on October 21, dozens of candidates with criminal records, will seek the people's mandate.
One is a budding cricketer and the other is a wannabe actor, but politics is what they have in common. Tejaswi Yadav, a cricketer, is better known as the son of Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad's son. Chirag Paswan, who is looking for a break in Bollywood, is the son of Lok Janshakti Party chief Ram Vilas Paswan.
Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad's controversial brother-in-law Sadhu Yadav has been given a pride of place in the publicity committee of the Congress in poll-bound Bihar.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances