Nitish Kumar and (bottom) Sushil Kumar Modi

Purnea, June 24: A few bypolls have had as high stakes as the one for the Purnea Assembly seat. Its outcome would prove if the equation established between the minorities and chief minister Nitish Kumar was still intact. For the BJP, it is a test of its image.

When voters go to cast their votes on Saturday, the fact that the bypoll is being conducted because of the murder of the three-time BJP MLA Rajkishore Keshari by a lady teacher would be in their mind. It is also being held against the backdrop of Forbesganj firing in Araria district, resulting in a wave of protests by the Opposition questioning the “secular” credibility of chief minister Nitish Kumar because all the four killed belonged to the minority community.

The Purnea Assembly seat has a substantial Muslim population and is adjoining to Araria.

Stung by the criticism from the Opposition and film personality Mahesh Bhatt, Nitish campaigned hard for the BJP candidate, Kiran Keshari. He assured the people of justice to the victims.

Back in Patna, in a function organised by the JD(U)’s minority cell, he declared that he would not allow any injustice to be done on minorities. He reminded people that it was he who had reopened the Bhagalpur riot cases when his predecessors — the RJD and the Congress — did nothing.

For deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi, insisting on fielding Kiran as the BJP candidate despite opposition from a section of the party leaders is a gamble. He hopes his decision does not backfire.

The image of the slain MLA — Rajkishore — took a beating amid charges of sexual exploitation levelled on him by none other than his assailant Rupam Pathak. The bypoll result would indicate if the sympathy vote Modi is hoping for existed at all.

The silver lining for the NDA is the failure of the Opposition to put up a joint candidate against Kiran. Not only has the Congress and the CPM fielded their candidates, the issue of extending support has created fissures in the RJD-LJP alliance.

The RJD is backing the CPM’s Amit Sarkar — the son of its once-charismatic MLA late Ajit Sarkar. Its ally, the LJP, is backing the Congress candidate, Ram Charitar Yadav.

Yadav is reportedly close to jailed don-turned-politician Pappu Yadav. Purnea was once considered the fiefdom of Pappu. The bypoll result would also indicate the clout of the jailed don — convicted for the murder of Ajit.

The district administration has expressed its satisfaction over its preparedness for the bypoll. Over 2 lakh voters are likely to exercise their franchise in 216 polling stations and 12 polling sub-stations.

The Purnea district magistrate-cum-returning officer, N. Saravana Kumar, told The Telegraph: “The administration has made all preparations to conduct free and fair poll. Each polling booth would be manned by central paramilitary forces. If required, Bihar Military Police and District Armed Police would also be deployed at different polling stations.”

The effort to conduct free and fair elections, however, failed to win hearts of more than 12,000 voters of Chimni Bazar under Sadar police station, who have made up their mind to boycott the Purnea byelection.