The tussle among the candidates is on. While Prime Minister Narendra Modi appreciated the efforts of voters for coming out of their house and voting during the pandemic, on the same hand, Rahul Gandhi blamed the prime minister for not effectively managing COVID-19 and giving false promises of job opportunities and setting up of Jan Dhan accounts. Add to that, simultaneously after coming to power, he announced demonetisation. He spoke about how the grand alliance of Modi Ji and Nitish Kumar looted the people of Bihar.
Similarly, Tejashwi Yadav, leader of opposition of Bihar in his letter to the prime minister, targeted him for the promises he made to the people of Bihar. Tejashwi Yadav’s highlights the questions on the migrant workers and the BJP hitting such a low level by announcing free vaccines in return of vote. He reminds the prime minister of the ₹1.25 lakh crore economic package that he had promised, the approval of assigning central status to Patna University along with the special status of Bihar.
The Election Commission of India announced 54.80% voter turnout in Bihar according to the latest Election Commission figures on the Voter Turnout App. The time for casting votes was increased by one hour today for the COVID-19 patients so that they can exercise their right to vote. According to a report by the TOI, 34% of the candidates charged under criminal cases and 37% charged under severe criminal cases. An investigation by the Association for Democratic Reforms found out that 89% of assembly bodies have at least three applications who have proclaimed criminal cases against themselves.
The confidence of Congress leader Shatrughan Sinha while saying whosoever is criticising Tejashwi Yadav will be khamoshed (silenced) once the results are out on November 10 says a lot in its way. As politicians started delivering speeches on jungle raj and Nitish Kumar’s maize production scam and the high prices, he was also seen being attacked by onions ones he began talking about unemployment. The man throwing onions at him mentions how alcohol is still in the market.
Capital city Patna Sahib, Kumhrar, Bankipur and Digha are likewise going to polls in the second phase, and Bihar holds all these. While the prime minister has made comments such as ‘those indulging in arson can be identified by their clothes’ during the CAA protest, he once again, during his rally, said while addressing the people of Bihar that there are people and groups who don’t want to say ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ or Jai Shri Ram’, but they want the vote.
There is still a lot that can change or anything can happen. Now we wait for the third phase that begins on November 7, 2020!