PATNA, 12 November 2005 — The spirited campaign for the third and penultimate phase of Bihar Assembly election in 57 constituencies on Nov. 13 ended with major contenders for power making the state’s backwardness a major electoral plank.
The electoral fates of several heavyweights, including state RJD state President Abdul Bari Siddiqui, his JD(U) counterpart Bijendra Prasad Yadav and state Samajwadi Party Chief Deonath Yadav, besides a host of ministers of the erstwhile Rabri Devi government are to be decided in this phase. The number of candidates entered for this phase is 494.
Campaigning has been brisk after a quiet period which saw three festival holidays — Ramadan, Diwali and Chhath — interrupting the flow of rallies. It is now in full throttle with top politicians, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, stumping for their party and allies’ candidates.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi, AICC general secretary and former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijay Singh, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and Union Ministers Meira Kumar and Subodh Kant Sahay shared the dais with RJD boss Lalu Prasad Yadav, who is spearheading the RJD-led Secular Democratic Front’s campaign.
Though former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee could not attend the NDA rally scheduled for Nov. 10 at Darbhanga on account of ill health, BJP President L.K. Advani, NDA convener and JD(U) President George Fernandes, party’s parliamentary board chairman Sharad Yadav, BJP leader and former MP Chief Minister Uma Bharati, party general secretaries Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley and Pramod Mahajan pitched in for the alliance.
Sonia yesterday said the party made a mistake in not allying itself with the RJD during the last elections in the Bihar, and there’s every possibility that a stalemate and this fresh elections could have been avoided.
Urging voters to vote for Congress-RJD candidates in the polls, Sonia said only this combination could provide a fair and popular governance in Bihar. “Lalu Prasad is a secular leader, and only he can save the interest of minorities and the backward in the state,” Sonia said, adding that keeping in mind the ground realities, Congress this time has decided to team up with RJD in Bihar.
Sonia yesterday addressed election meetings in Araria, Saran, Chhapra and Madhubani districts. Her Bihar visit was scheduled for Thursday, but had to be put off by a day following the death of former President K.R. Narayanan.
Meanwhile, the Election Commission has directed the Uttar Pradesh government to seal its border with Bihar for the third and fourth phases of the polls, to be held on Nov. 13 and 19.
Janata Dal (U) leader and NDA Chief Ministerial candidate Nitish Kumar shunned the rhetoric and went straight to the real reason why he was there. “Give us a chance we will change the face of Bihar for good,” he said. “In the new Bihar there will be plenty of job opportunities, less crime, availability of basic amenities to all, and the rights of poor, backward, and minorities restored,” the JD-U leader said.
Nitish, along with the BJP state President Sushil Kumar Modi, addressed many rallies asking voters for their support. “You gave the RJD 15 years, we are asking for only 5 years. If you are not happy and satisfied with us after that, I will never come back to you asking for your vote again,” said Nitish.
Senior BJP leader Swaraj said this election could determine the course of Bihar for next 20-30 years. “If you miss it this time, it might be too late even for your children,” Swaraj said while asking people to vote for the NDA. “You must rise above the caste and religion considerations in the greater interest of Bihar,” she told the crowd.
“This is not just about elections in Bihar, this is a war against an autocratic government, a battle against injustice and corruption,” she said.
