Family Feuds, A Murder, And A Folk Singer: 5 Key Bihar Election Phase I Battles

The first phase of the 2025 Bihar Assembly election began this morning with voters in 121 constituencies setting out to choose between Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's ruling JDU-BJP alliance and the opposition Mahagathbandhan led by RJD chief and chief ministerial candidate Tejashwi Yadav.

In the former camp, apart from the Bharatiya Janata Party and Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal United, are union minister Chirag Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party and the Hindustan Awam Morcha of ex-Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, as well as Upendra Kushwaha's Rashtiya Lok Morcha.

In the latter, the Congress and a bloc of three Left parties, including the Communist Party of India, have rallied behind Lalu Yadav's RJD, with Mukesh Sahani's Vikassheel Insaan Party, and two smaller outfits, Indian Inclusive Party and Janshakti Janata Dal, making up the numbers.

The RJD has fielded the greatest number of candidates (72) in this phase, followed by the JDU (57), BJP (48), and Congress (24). But those numbers hide one of the quirks of coalition politics – 'friendly' contests, in which allied parties compete against each other in some seats.

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In this case, that quirk came about due to the Mahagathbandhan not reaching a seat-share deal before the deadline to file nominations, prompting 11 such showdowns, including in Vaishali, where the RJD and Congress will go head-to-head, and Bihar Sharif, where it is CPI vs Congress.

'Friendly' fights aside, which are the high-profile contests in this phase?

The biggest is Raghopur – a RJD stronghold that has voted for Lalu Yadav twice and his wife, Rabri Devi, three times – and from where Tejashwi Yadav will bid for a third straight term.

In the 2015 and 2020 elections Yadav recorded thumping wins over the BJP's Satish Kumar Yadav, and is widely expected to make it a hat-trick of wins. He will, though, know the BJP's Yadav is not to be taken lightly; SK Yadav pulled off a big upset in this seat in the 2010 election.

RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav is the opposition's chief ministerial candidate (File).

Back then it was Rabri Devi contesting. She lost by 13,000 votes. This time Tejashwi Yadav faces a familiar face in SK Yadav and Chanchal Kumar from newcomer Prashant Kishor's Jan Suraaj.

Tejashwi Yadav should not, theoretically, lose this contest.

But the stakes are massive for the RJD leader, particularly after the Congress grudgingly accepted him as the alliance boss and, should the Mahagathbandhan win, the next Chief Minister.

A defeat could seriously undermine his leadership credentials.

The Tarapur seat is another high-profile and interesting contest.

In a region dominated by the Kushwaha community, the BJP has fielded its state unit boss, Samrat Choudhary, who is from that clan and is also the party's OBC face.

He faces the RJD's Arun Shah and Sukhdev Yadav from the Janata Janshakti Dal of Tejashwi Yadav's estranged brother, Tej Pratap Yadav, as well as Dr Santosh Singh from Prashant Kishor's party.

Samrat Choudhary, the BJP's Bihar unit boss, will contest from Tarapur (File).

The interesting bit is that Tarapur has been a JDU stronghold in recent elections.

The party has held it since 2010, when Neeta Choudhary won it off the RJD's Shakuni Choudhary, and her husband, Mewalal Choudhary retained it in the 2015 and 2020 polls.

Should Samrat Choudhary lose, not only will he damage his political capital, but the JDU will have a very real grouse against its partner, particularly if the alliance is defeated.

The battle for Mahua is a test on Tejashwi Yadav's leadership and his sway over the massively influential Yadav community in Bihar. That's because Mahua, like Raghopur, is a RJD stronghold; it has won this seat in four of the last five elections, with the JDU claiming a win in-between.

More importantly, this election will see a three-way contest within the Yadav clan, though the headline will certainly be Tej Pratap Yadav contesting against Mukesh Kumar Raushan, from his father's party.

Brothers 'at war': Tej Pratap Yadav (R) and Tejashwi Yadav (L) (File).

Tej Pratap Yadav won this seat in 2015 – a dominant win over HAM's Ravindra Ray – but that was with the RJD's backing and Lalu Yadav's blessing. How will he fare on his own?

And with the Lok Janshakti Party also propping a Yadav candidate – Sanjay Singh – the vote splits three ways; it will certainly split in two with Tej Pratap Yadav himself on the ballot.

For Tejashwi Yadav to retain this seat will be a decisive statement of intent.

For sheer drama, the battle in Mokama should be absorbing.

The JDU's Anant Singh – a local thug and strongman – is the JDU nominee, having won the seat five times straight between 2005 and 2020. Between 2010 and 2020 he won it first for the JDU, then as an independent, and then with the RJD, meaning this is undoubtedly his turf.

Mokama lawmaker Anant Singh, who was arrested over a rival's murder (File).

He was disqualified after jumping back from the RJD to the JDU in 2022 but his wife, Neelam Devi, kept the seat in the family; she beat the BJP's Sonam Devi by over 16,000 votes.

And now Singh is back with the JDU, again. He will 'contest' from prison, though, after he was arrested over the murder of Dular Chand Yadav, another gangster allegedly campaigning for Jan Suraaj pick Piyush Priyadarshi. His big rival, though, will be the RJD's Veena Devi.

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The question here is, was the massive 2020 win – with over 53 per cent of the votes going to the RJD-backed Singh – down to the party's groundwork or the politician's influence?

Alinagar will see a left-field BJP candidate – folk singer Maithili Thakur – as the party looks to pick up a first win in a constituency only created in 2008. Since then, the Mahagathbandhan has dominated, with two wins for the RJD and one for Mukesh Sahani's VIP, which won it in 2020.

Why is Alinagar an interesting contest?

For one, due to Thakur's nomination. The 29-year-old singer will be expected to bring her large social media following – boosted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's praise - to win this seat for the BJP.

Also, this seat is held by the VIP of Mukesh Sahani, who will want to build on the four his party won in the last election to justify his being nominated as the presumptive Deputy Chief Minister.

NDTV Special | 2020 To 2025: Sahani's 25-Seat, Deputy Chief Minister Demands

Sahani's influence within the Mallah community – he is the 'son of Mallah' – was a big reason in that post being offered, and he knows he must deliver on those promised votes to remain a key figure.

Thakur will go up against the RJD's Binod Mishra, who was only narrowly beaten – less than 4,000 votes – by the VIP's Mishri Yadav in 2020 and will be itching for revenge.

There are several other interesting fights across the 121 seats in play in this phase, including in Arrah, where the BJP replaced its winning candidate, Amrendra Singh, with Sanjay 'Tiger' Singh, to try and re-establish what was a stranglehold in this area; it won it four times straight earlier.

Lakhisarai also presents an eye-catching contest, with the state's second Deputy Chief Minister, Vijay Kumar Sinha, on the ballot in his bastion, a seat he has held since 2015.

Challenging him is Suraj Kumar from Prashant Kishor's party.

What happened in 2020?

In 2020, the Mahagathbandhan claimed a moral win in the first phase, winning 63 of 121 seats, while the BJP and JDU together managed only 55 seats. A repeat will be very welcome for an opposition looking to oust the BJP, though another second-best showing will not dishearten the BJP-JDU.

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