Bihar is an important state which be witnessing 7 phase polling for its 40 Lok Sabha seats. The first phase will be held on April 11 (4 seats), the second phase on April 18 (5 seats), third phase on April 23 (5 seats), fourth phase on April 29 (5 seats), fifth phase on May 6 (5 seats), sixth phase on May 12 (8 seats) and seventh phase on May 19 (8 seats). Counting will be held on May 23.
The politics in Bihar has taken several U-turns for the past 10 years. In 2010, JD (U) along with BJP under NDA alliance swept the state election, winning 206 out of 243 seats. But, the BJP and JD(U) split over the choice of the Prime Minister in 2014 Lok Sabha elections and decided to fight separately. Surprisingly NDA alliance won 31 seats out of 40 seats. In 2015, JD (U) joined hands with RJD to form Grand Alliance and won 178 seats out of the 243 seats in Assembly Elections. Within 2 years, Bihar once again witnessed a regime shift when JD (U) broke its party’s alliance with RJD. The new coalition government of JD(U) was formed with BJP as the key ally. Now, Nitish Kumar-led JD(U) joins hand with BJP to fight the Lok Sabha elections against Congress and RJD combine.