It's the question on every mind. Who will win when two notorious gangstersare challenging two women ministers - themselves wives of two dons - in two neighbouring seats.

The similarities do not end there. The women are contesting on JDU tickets, and at times, train their guns at each other. After all, their husbands were at loggerheads once. The drama is unfolding in Rupauli and Dhamdaha seats that go to the polls on Thursday.

The dramatis personae are backward and extremely backward classes welfare minister Bima Bharti, who is contesting from Rupauli and social welfare and disaster management minister Lesi Singh, contesting from Dhamdaha. Both have used all means of campaigning on the ground - from bicycles to campaign vehicles with blaring loudspeakers - and are now banking on muscle power and counting on the support of their caste men to sail through.

Bima came to politics in 2000, introduced to it by her husband Awadesh Mandal, who once headed the Faizan Party, an armed militia involved in kidnapping for ransom and extortion during the lawless days. He once carried a reward of Rs 25,000 on his head. She first contested as an Independent and became an MLA. She lost in February 2005 to Shankar Singh, an infamous gang lord who headed the North Bihar Liberation Army (NBLA), which indulged in kidnapping, murder, smuggling and took contracts on proxy from government departments. However, Bima bounced back in October 2005 on an RJD ticket by trouncing Shankar, who was then a Lok Janshakti Party candidate. She repeated her performance in 2010 on a JDU ticket.

Bima is pitted against Shankar this time too, the only difference being Shankar is contesting as an Independent now. He has the support of some women voters, as his wife Pratima Devi is the zila parishad chairman. Queering their pitch is BJP candidate Prem Prakash Mandal, also a muscleman and Bima's husband's maternal uncle.

With three "strong" candidates in the fray, fear is palpable across Rupauli. People choose not to discuss politics. Hari Mandal of Goriar village in Rupauli says: "This area has seen much bloodshed till a few years ago and we don't want those days to return."

A few kilometres away, Vikas Singh of Harnaha village says: "The contest is between Bima and Shankar. Prem Prakash is a lazy bum. He went to attend Narendra Modi's rally in Purnea, but reached only after the Prime Minister had spoken and flown off."

Bima, who was estranged from her husband for the past five years and filed for divorce in 2012 after she was assaulted several times, has patched up with him for the polls. This gives her an edge.

Lesi entered politics in 2000 after her history-sheeter husband, Madhusudan Singh alias Butan Singh, also the district president of the then Samata Party led by Nitish Kumar, was killed outside Purnea district court while being produced there in one of several cases against him.

Riding on a sympathy wave among Rajput voters, Lesi got elected that year, defeating Dilip Kumar Yadav, a notorious gangster and RJD leader, among those accused of killing Butan. (He was subsequently discharged of the charges in a CBI enquiry in which five persons were convicted.)

Lesi won again in February 2005, but Dilip defeated her in October 2005. She bounced back to clinch the seat in 2010. They are again pitted against each other but have also to contend with Shiv Shankar Thakur of Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP), who has a clean image.

Satish Kumar Singh, a landlord whose family has stayed at Duddhibhitta village in Dhamdaha for around 80 years, said: "It seems that Rajput voters so far loyal to Lesi may swing towards the RLSP. "

At Bhawani Chak village, Manohar Kumar, an undergraduate who will vote for the first time, smiles when asked which party or candidate he likes. All he says is someday people will be fed up of "bahubalis" and cast them away.