Campaigning Ends for First Phase of Bihar Polls. Voting on October 12.

Patna: Loudspeakers fell silent as a high-decibel campaigning for the 49 seats going to poll in the first phase of Bihar assembly elections came to an end today. The voting will take place on October 12.

The campaigning began with scores of election rallies by the two main contending alliances - the BJP-led NDA along with Jitan Ram Manjhi's newly-formed Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) up against the 'grand alliance' of Lalu Prasad's RJD, Nitish Kumar's JD(U) and the Congress.

As campaigning peaked, Lalu Prasad's "Hindus also eat beef" remark was sternly countered by the opposition. Launching his campaign for Bihar poll from Munger yesterday, the PM had said Lalu Prasad cannot absolve himself of his beef remarks by claiming that it was the "devil" (shaitan) on his tongue which made him say it, and added  "I want to know how the shaitan got the address (of Lalu)...he recognises that it was the shaitan in a similar manner as people recognise their relatives."

PM Modi vigorously stirred Bihar's melting electoral pot by accusing Lalu of "insulting" the "yaduvanshis", who rear cattle, by his comment.

Soon, PM Modi's remarks provoked accusations of trying to communalise the elections.

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Mr Prasad and the chief ministerial candidate of the 'grand alliance' Nitish Kumar harped on the alleged move to scrap quotas, rally after rally, to consolidate the backward caste votes.

"The real Modi on display - brazen attempt to add communal texture to Bihar polls, but deafening silence on deplorable incident of Dadri," said Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

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Mr Kumar said it was for all to see "why Vajpayee ji was forced to remind him (Modi) to follow Raj Dharma, but wonder who will do the Vajpayee today?"

Warnings of a return of "jungle raj", a term used by Lalu's critics to describe alleged lawlessness during RJD's 15-year rule, was an oft repeated refrain of the NDA leaders, including PM Modi and Amit Shah.