Lok Sabha Election 2019 Phase 7: Bihar to vote today; BJP-JDU, Congress-RJD to fight for 8 seats

Political parties officially ended campaigning for the seventh and final phase of voting for Lok Sabha Electionon Friday. 8 constituencies of Bihar will go to poll on Sunday, May 19.

Nearly 1.52 crore voters are eligible to cast their vote in the final phase of election which will decide the fate of 157 candidates.

Of 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar, polling would be held in eight Lok Sabha seats, namely Nalanda, Patna Sahib, Patliputra, Ara, Buxar, Karakat, Jahanabad and Sasaram.

The Sasaram parliamentary constituency, from where the first women Speaker of the Lok Sabha Meira Kumar is contesting as a Congress candidate, is one of the key seats that will vote in Phase 7.

Kumar, daughter of former Prime Minister Jagjivan Ram, is pitting against sitting MP Chhedi Lal Paswan of the BJP.

In 2014 Lok Sabha election, Paswan defeated Meira Kumar with 7.48 per cent margin. Meira won the Sasaram seat twice in 2004 and 2009.

The Election Commission has set up 15,811 polling stations for smooth conduct of phase seven of elections. As per data issued by CEO Bihar office, there are a total of 1.52 lakh voters, which include 80.95 lakh male voters, 1.56 lakh female voters and 501 third gender voters.

In Patliputra, sitting BJP MP Ram Kirpal Yadav is facing Grand Alliance candidate Misha Bharti, daughter of RJD chief Lalu Prasad. In last election, Ram Kirpal Yadav defeated Bharti with narrow margin of 4.12 per cent vote.

Patna Sahib constituency will see an interesting fight between two old friends: Shatrughan Sinha and Ravi Shankar Prasad. Former BJP leader Shatrughan Sinha seeks to retain the seat for a third consecutive term, this time on a Congress ticket, faces formidable challenge by Ravi Shankar Prasad, who is fighting his maiden Lok Sabha election.

There is a bipolar contest between the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) camp and Congress-RJD led 'Mahagathbandhan' in Bihar. The NDA comprises the Janata Dal (United) and the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). As per seat sharing formula, the BJP and JD(U) is contesting on 17 seats, while the LJP is seeking the electoral mandate  on 6 seats.

Also Read: Lok Sabha Election 2019: Poll dates, full schedule, voting phase7 FAQs, election results, constituencies' detail

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