Purnia awaits poll judgement

PURNIA: With the clock ticking towards judgement day November 24, when the fates of assembly aspirants will be declared, the hearts of these candidates are pounding hard and fast. The contestants, who slogged hard and virtually left no stone unturned to win and have high stakes placed in this year's elections, have their fingers crossed and are invoking every god to grant them their wishes.
With D Day so near, the guessing game has touched a feverish pitch. Even as contestants are huddled together with their close friends and well-wishers who are keeping their morale up, they are worried as to what the vote count would reveal. Astrologers and soothsayers have never so eagerly been courted by the contestants than now, with their fates sealed in the EVMs.
Some party offices are still cluttered with workers preparing their poll agents at the counting centres, and no one is thinking negative. "We will win," was the unfailing refrain heard from most of the candidates.
The stakes are very high for the JD(U) and its partner BJP. The NDA had walked away with the lion's share of eleven seats in the 2005 polls in Purnia division, with the BJP hogging nine and the JD(U) two. However, JD(U)'s tally increased when it wrested the Manihari seat in Katihar district in a bypoll from the Congress and the Samajwadi Party candidate from Thakurganj deserted the party and hitched on to the JD(U), raising the NDA's count to 13.
The poll outcome will be watched closely as it is a litmus test for the Congress that's on its comeback trail in the state. The party not only contested all 24 seats in Purnia division, but also gave its campaign a frenzied pitch when it brought in star campaigners like party chief Sonia Gandhi, its youth icon Rahul Gandhi and even Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
The only constituency that the PM campaigned in during the month-long electioneering was Narpatganj in Araria district on October 16.
The Congress will not only improve its tally but will also make its presence felt across Purnia division, claims the former district chief of Kishanganj, Kailash Modi. The party had won four seats in the October/November 2005 election.
The RJD, which had four seats in its kitty, pulled out all stops to improve its position in the division. RJD partner LJP did not win a single seat in 2005, but wrested Araria in the 2009 bypoll. It seems hopeful of breaking the jinx this time, according to political analysts. Samajwadi Party, NCP, CPI(M-L) and independent candidates had claimed one seat each in 2005.
The number of seats in the division, too, has gone up from 23 to 24 after delimitation.