Bihar Assembly Elections 2020 LIVE Updates: Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has set the stage for the Bihar polls today with a virtual rally to connect with lakhs of people as the NDA looks to repeat its electoral success, battling the anti-incumbency wave and criticism over the handling of floods as well as political unrest in the state after the death of Bollywood star Sushant Singh Rajput who hailed from the state. The rally, which will begin at 11.30 am, was originally planned for September 6, but it was postponed by a day due to a week-long national mourning following the death of former President Pranab Mukherjee.The rally comes at a time when the NDA constituents are engaged in a battle of one-upmanship, with both the BJP and the JDU indulging in a proxy war of sorts for Dalit votes to become the single-largest party after the elections. To add to Kumar’s woes, LJP has launched a diatribe against the JDU over the issues of management of migrants who returned after the lockdown was imposed due to Covid-19 as well as the floods that have ravaged the state. In fact, the LJP will meet at 2pm today to decide whether to contest against ally JD(U) in Bihar polls. As Kumar battles internal rifts, he has found some support in former Bihar chief minister and HAM party chief Jitan Ram Manjhi who has pledged loyalty to Kumar and challenged the LJP to bring its contenders into the electoral fray. "We have forged an alliance with Janata Dal (United) and have become a part of the NDA. There has been no discussion about seat-sharing in the next Bihar Assembly elections," news agency ANI had quoted Manjhi as saying. Manjhi had earlier severed ties with the grand alliance after spending two-and-a-half years in the opposition coalition, comprising RJD, Congress, RLSP and Bollywood set designer-turned-politician Mukesh Sahni’s Vikasshil Insaan Party (VIP). Manjhi is the lone member of his party in the assembly. But his induction would help the NDA’s outreach to Dalits, particularly other than Paswans who form the support base of the LJP. Dalits in Bihar are over 16% of the electorate and about 40 seats in the 243-member house are reserved for them. Manjhi had quit the JD(U) in 2015 after being forced to step down as the chief minister to make way for the return of Kumar. He later formed the HAM(S) and contested 21 seats in the 2015 Bihar assembly elections as an NDA constituent. With the return of Kumar to the NDA in July 2017, he walked out of it to join hands with the opposition grouping.So far as the Grand Alliance is concerned, the three major Left parties -- the CPI, CPI(M) and CPI-ML – are all set to join the Grand Alliance or Mahagathbandhan led by Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Congress and speculation is rife that Kanhaiya Kumar may be the star campaigner in a bid to topple the electoral strategy of the NDA.During the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, efforts were made by the RJD-Congress combine to have an electoral understanding with the Left parties but it did not fructify as the RJD had fielded Tanveer Hassan from Begusarai Lok Sabha seat against Kanhaiya Kumar. Eventually, Kanhaiya finished third behind BJP candidate Giriraj Singh and the RJD in a triangular fight.As the talks failed, the CPI, CPI(M), CPI-ML, the Socialist Unity Centre of India (Communist) and the Revolutionary Socialist Party had decided to run in all the constituencies on a joint ticket to provide an alternative platform. The CPI had contested on 91 seats, while the CPI-ML fought on 78 seats and the CPI(M) on 38 seats.However, the CPI-ML reached an understanding with the RJD on the Arrah Lok Sabha seat against Union minister RK Singh. In quid pro quo, the RJD left the Arrah seat for the CPI-ML, which did not field any candidate from the Patliputra seat from where Lalu Prasad’s daughter Misa Bharti fought unsuccessfully against former Union minister of state Ram Kripal Yadav.

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