On Wednesday all eyes were on Mahua and Raghopur - separated by 15km - where voters sealed the fates of RJD chief Lalu Prasad's sons Tej Pratap and Tejaswi, respectively.
The brothers are competing to inherit Lalu's political empire and in case just one of them wins, he can expect to be anointed the RJD chief's successor. Expectedly, the brothers aggressively toured areas in their respective segments, monitoring the progress of voting and enquiring about the facilities.
Tej Pratap criss-crossed Mahua at high speed, trying to touch every major part of the constituency while Tejaswi mingled with voters at Majhauli, Lakhni and Chechar villages. He kept stepping down from his vehicle to enquire after people's well-being and whether they could cast their votes without any hassles.
Raghopur has become a prestige issue for Lalu, as it was considered his pocket borough not long ago. He has represented it twice in the Assembly, while his wife Rabri Devi was elected from there thrice.
Lalu's younger son, Tej Pratap, is locked in a direct fight with sitting MLA from Mahua, Satish Kumar, who is contesting on a BJP ticket. In the 2010 polls, Satish had left the RJD, contested on a JDU ticket and defeated Rabri, thereby achieving fame as a "giant killer". This time the alliance factor came into play and the seat went to the RJD. The constituency has about a lakh Yadav and 60,000 Rajput voters. Those from other castes are lesser in comparison.
Randheer Kumar Singh of Ramdauli village said: "Earlier, the Rajputs would never vote for Satish, as he has not done much for the constituency. But yesterday, we decided to vote for the BJP. The Dalits are also supporting him. He will win if he manages to get even a few votes from other castes."
While voters cutting across caste and community lines exercised their franchise, women are likely to affect results, as they often came out in large numbers to vote in both constituencies.
Female voters in Mahua postponed household chores and stood determinedly to cast their votes.
Mamata Devi of Mukundpur, who led a group of women from her village to booth number 154 in Mahua, said: "We all want a good leader and a good chief minister, so that our area improves and Bihar progresses. We all watch television and are aware of the major candidates here and will vote on merit."
She and scores of women accompanying her had to wait for over an hour, as the electronic voting machine (EVM) at that particular booth did not work and had to be replaced.
Mahua is seeing a triangular fight between Tej Pratap, sitting MLA Ravindra Rai of the Hindustani Awam Morch (Secular) and Jageswar Rai, the 2010 RJD candidate now contesting on a Jan Adhikar Party ticket.
"I voted and also interacted with my friends. Tej Pratap has an edge, because we read reports about Ravindra Yadav assaulting his wife. He perhaps forgot that this is the age of women's power," said Sumitra Devi, a voter.
Elsewhere, at a booth in Madhaul village of Mahua constituency, Nazia Parveen came without cooking breakfast for her family. "We eat daily, so it can be delayed a bit one day. Moreover, elections are for the betterment of the entire society."
She and a few other women at the booth didn't know the names of the candidates, but knew Lalu, chief minister Nitish Kumar and Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) chief Ram Vilas Paswan. "We will vote as suggested by the men in our family," said Salma Parveen, one of the voters there.
Octogenarian Shraddha Devi, who has been voting for over 50 years now, said she has been doing so in the hope that some day the leaders will eradicate poverty and hunger from society.
