Elections to 24 Legislative Council seats in the local bodies' quota would test the money and muscle power of the candidates and their respective political parties ahead of the Assembly polls later this year.

The campaigning for the Council polls, scheduled to take place on July 7, came to an end today with a unique claim from the two major political blocks - JDU-RJD-Congress-NCP and BJP-LJP-RLSP - that their candidates would romp home comfortably.

Though the star campaigners from almost all the mainline parties tried to give the perception that they had campaigned intensively among the voters, the nature of the election for the Council seats in the quota of local bodies is different.

"The electoral college of the seats from the local bodies' quota in the Council comprises the elected representatives from the three-tier panchayati raj system. They broadly include representatives from the panchayats, district boards in the rural areas and municipalities and municipal corporations in the urban areas," said a source, adding: "Roughly, there are 5,000 to 6,000 voters in each constituency for the Council seats."

The source added: "All the voters are identified. The parties and their candidates who manage to garner the support of maximum members of the electoral college concerned eventually romp home. A behind-the-scene operation among the voters matters more than campaigning in the open with the general people, by and large, staying out of the electoral process."

In the NDA, the BJP is contesting the largest number of seats. The party has fielded its candidates on 18 seats against five of its outgoing members. The LJP and RLSP, the NDA constituents, are contesting four and two seats, respectively. The NDA, sources revealed, has been hoping to win, at least, 12 seats to keep its "morale" high ahead of the Assembly elections.

The Leader of Opposition in the Assembly, Nand Kishore Yadav, claimed: "The elected representatives of the local bodies are angry at the Nitish Kumar government. Their anger will be reflected at the Council polls leading to the victory of more NDA nominees."

The JDU-RJD-Congress-NCP's grand alliance is pitted against the NDA. The JDU and RJD have fielded their candidates in 10 seats each while the Congress and NCP fielded three and one, respectively. Senior Congress leader and former Kerala governor Nikhil Kumar claimed: "The Congress-JDU-RJD-NCP alliance is going to sweep the Council polls. The Council polls are important as they are taking place just ahead of the Assembly elections."

On the other hand, RJD legislature party leader Abdul Bari Siddiqui and state minister for food and consumer affairs Shyam Rajak addressed a joint press conference to give the message of unity between the RJD and JDU and claimed that their alliance candidates would romp home from all the constituencies.