Bihar election 2015 : Second phase polling

The second phase of Bihar Assembly polls, held on 32 Assembly segments across six districts on Friday, witnessed 55 per cent turnout. Women again took the lead by recording 57.5 per cent voting as against men who recorded 52.5 per cent. Kaimur recorded the highest polling percentage (57.86), while Aurangabad registered the lowest (52.50 per cent). However, voters had to wait for long owing to the slow pace of polling. The Indian Express visited several polling stations in the segments of Ghoshi, Maqdumpur, Jehanabad and Gaya. At most booths, Nitish Kumar’s “good work” was the talking point and a section of voters rooted for “Grand Alliance” candidates. Most voters, however, were not sure who will form the next government. “Jo bhi ho hung Assembly nahi hona chahiye (Whatever happens, there should not be a hung Assembly)” was a common refrain at these constituencies. 

The Manjhis appeared to have put their weight behind former CM Jitan Ram Manjhi, who is contesting from the Imamganj and Maqdumpur segments. The Tehta booth saw a high turnout of women from the community. Pusami Devi, a resident of Puranbigha, said she had walked over 2km to the Tehta booth to “express solidarity” with Manjhi. At Dharnai village of Jehanabad, Yadavs, Paswans and Manjhis reached the polling booth at Jhitkoria village school in large numbers. “Jyada lalten me hi ja raha hai (more number of votes are going in favour of RJD),” claimed a Yadav youth, while his elder brother called it a “one-sided” polling. The Yadavs, however, were upset at the slow pace of polling. Ner village in Maqdumpur Assembly segment has almost an even population of Bhumihars and Yadavs. But villagers have settled with their voting preferences. “Pata nahi kya hoga. Lekin abhi se matha kharab kyon karen? (we do not know who will win but there is no point taxing our mind from now),” said a Bhumihar voter. At Khaneta booth in Belaganj, sitting RJD MLA Surendra Prasad Yadav looks a clear favourite. 

A shopkeeper said a section of OBC baniyas, known to be BJP voters, were voting for Yadav as NDA could not field a “good” candidate. Lodhipur middle school booth in Jehanabad segment saw high turnout of the elderly, youths and women in the first half of the day. Eighty-year-old Mannu Singh took a short-cut through a muddy field to reach the booth. Kapildev Singh said it has been “the Grand Alliance all the way” in the village, which has a high population of Yadavs and Koeris. Joginder Pandit, a carpenter at Bhabhena, said: “This area has 22 castes and most rallied for the NDA candidate”. Katuali village in Ghoshi segment saw Bhumihars rooting for sitting MLA Rahul Kumar, who joined Manjhi’s party Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular). This was the only one of the three Jehanabad seats where NDA appeared to be firmly placed. A common feature across the four segments was that women chose to vote in the first half, on the lines of the slogan “pehle matdan, phir jalpaan (vote first, breakfast later)”. Kanti Devi, who was fighting for space in a queue at a Maqdumpur booth, said: “We will vote and then send our men to vote. But the sun is beating down on us and sapping our energy”. As she looked frustrated, an elderly man advised her to bear the wait, considering that it came once in five years.