Campaign ends for 6th phase of Lok Sabha polls in Bihar

Campaigning for the eight Lok Sabha seats in Bihar going to the polls in the penultimate phase on Sunday ended peacefully on Friday.

Out of the 40 parliamentary constituencies in the state, 24 had voted in the previous phases of Lok Sabha polls, while the remaining eight will vote in the seventh and final phase on May 19.

The following seats in the flood-prone, Bhojouri speaking north Bihar region will go to the polls on Sunday -- Gopalganj, Siwan, Maharajganj, East Champaran, West Champaran, Valmiki Nagar, Sheohar and Vaishali. More than 1.38 lakh voters will decide the fate of 127 candidates in the sixth phase of polling.

The nearly three-week long canvassing saw top leaders from the BJP-JD(U)-LJP combine and those from the opposition Grand Alliance comprising RJD, Congress, RLSP, HAM and VIP campaign in the state. The Left parties and the BSP too hit the campaign trail.

The long spell of campaign witnessed many war of words, and was occasionally marred by personal attacks and abuses hurled at each other by the political leaders across party lines.

The run-up to the elections saw hectic campaigning by the star campaigners of the NDA alliance, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP President Amit Shah, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi.

The bigwigs who campaigned for the opposition Grand Alliance included Congress President Rahul Gandhi, RJD leader and former Chief Minister Rabri Devi, leader of Opposition Tejashwi Yadav, RLSP chief and former Union Minister Upendra Kushwaha and former Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi.

The sixth phase of polling will see direct contests between the NDA allies and the opposition Grand Alliance, except in Siwan and East Champaran, which will witness a triangular fight involving the Left party candidates.

The pominent candidates in the fray include Union Minister and BJP leader Radha Mohan Singh (East Champaran), former Union Minister and RJD candidate Raghuvansh Prasad Singh (Vaishali), jailed former MP Mohammad Shahabuddin's wife Hina Sahab of the RJD (Siwan) and BJP's Rama Devi, who's aiming for a hat-trick of wins from Sheohar.

--IANS

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