Modi jitao or Modi harao? Voters in Bihar keep all guessing

Patna: The summer heat sapped the energy of the voters, but not their enthusiasm in Bihar as the state witnessed a whopping 13 percent increase in polling in the fourth round over the previous general elections. The polling percentage maintained its rising trend right since it began early in the morning. It began with a not-so-impressive five percent but it rose by an average five percent every hour and touched a terrific 57.74 percent at the end of polling at 6 pm, showing an increase of an impressive 13 percent. In the last 2009 Lok Sabha polls, the average voting percentage in this region was 45 percent. [caption id=“attachment_1503577” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. PTI[/caption] A maximum of 64 percent polling was recorded in Begusarai, 60 percent in Madhepura, 57 in Darbhanga, 56 each in Madhubani and Jhanjharpur, and 55 each in Khagaria and Samastipur. The prominent players whose fate was sealed today include JD-U’s national chief Sharad Yadav, cricketer-tuned-BJP leader Kirti Jha Azad, and RJD politicians Abdul Bari Siddiqui and Pappu Yadav. The seven north Bihar constituencies — Madhubani, Jhanjharpur, Madhepura, Darbhanga, Samastipur, Begusarai and Khagaria— which went to polls today are dominated by Maithili Brahmins, Muslims and Yadavs. Various political parties interpreted the increase in polling percentage in their own way. “The main reason behind increase in polling percentage is that the RJD-Congress combine has emerged as a formidable alliance in this poll,” opined state’s Congress media in-charge Premchandra Mishra. “We are winning all the seven seats. We are 100 percent sure”, he added. But the BJP sees a Modi wave behind it whereas the JD(U) claims that the lack of any solid alternative was forcing voters to go for the Third Front as the chances of any single party or other alliance getting the majority looks remote. “Now, the people are debating about the Third Front,” explained JD(U) leader Niraj Kumar. The voters, however, have remained evasive on disclosing who they voted for. The general reply was that they are fed up with the present set of leaders who hardly care about their constituencies and the voters yet they had to “vote in national interest”. If the theme of the election was either Modi harao or Modi jitao, as has been hyped over the last few weeks, it was not detectable in their reactions. The unending queues of women outside most polling booths baffled many. Of the seven constituencies which faced the voters today, five are currently held by Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) and the rest by the BJP. Thus the stakes are high for the erstwhile NDA partners while the RJD-Congress have nothing to lose. The desperation of Nitish was evident when he made an impassioned appeal to the voters to chose his party. He used Sunday’s incident in which he had a providential escape when the helicopter he was flying got caught in a powerful storm and had to make an emergency landing to generate sympathy for him. The strong and multi-directional winds had made the chopper sway and swerve for several minute on way to Madhepura from Saharsa before it could be landed safely. “For a moment, it seemed life will come to an end, caravan will come to a standstill. Many horrible thoughts crept into my mind but thanks to God, I am here to share my feelings,” Nitish has posted this on his Facebook page, appealing the masses to continue the fight against darkness even if the well-lighted “lamp” gets put out, in an oblique reference to himself.