Stakes high for BJP-led NDA in Bihar poll's fourth round

Patna: Caste arithmetic will be on test on Sunday as electors in 55 constituencies in Bihar's flood prone fertile belt vote in the fourth round of assembly polls - with BJP chief Amit Shah's Pakistan comment muddying the electoral waters.

Millions of voters were bombarded with issues like bursting of firecrackers in Pakistan to a conspiracy to steal the job quota of the Dalits and OBCs for a religious community as campaigning drew to a close.
The stakes are perhaps the highest for Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led NDA.
Amit Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi played their cards that linked Bihar assembly polls outcome with Pakistan and raised the old job quota issue for Muslims during their rallies. It is being seen as a last ditch effort to counter RJD chief Lalu Prasad's "backward versus forward" fight in polls and Nitish Kumar's development agenda.
No doubt the stakes are also high for Chief Minister Nitish Kumar but the belligerent tone of Modi and Shah, going by their addresses in the last 48 hours, has given strength to speculations here that BJP-led NDA is not confident of repeating their performance in their strongholds.
In the last assembly polls in 2010, when the BJP was in alliance with the JD-U, it won 26 seats alone, and the NDA swept 53 of the 55 assembly seats in the last Lok Sabha polls in 2014, thanks to Modi's wave.
Amit Shah during his election rallies said firecrackers would be burst in celebration in Pakistan if the grand alliance - and not the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance - formed the next government.
Even Modi during his rallies said: "Leaders of the RJD, JD-U and the Congress are conspiring to snatch away 5 percent of SC/ST and OBC reservation and give it to a religious community (Muslim) for votes.
For the BJP, this is its strongest belt where it enjoys support of the traditional upper castes along with the Other Backward Caste-Extreme Backward Caste, and Dalits. It was evident in the last assembly and the last Lok Sabha polls.
"While it would look to maintain that dominance, it is not an easy task," a political watcher said.
As many as 14,739,120 voters are eligible to decide the fate of 776 candidates in fray in 55 of 243 assembly constituencies spread over Gopalganj, Siwan, West Champaran, East Champaran, Sheohar, Sitamarhi and Muzaffarpur districts.
The NDA candidates are heavily depending on Modi and his plank of development in the belts once notorious for lawlessness, including kidnapping, extortion and murder. Modi and Shah also used the fear factor to woo voters, warning of a return of 'Jungle Raj' if the BJP-led NDA was not voted to power.
Source: IANS