The stakes for both the NDA and the Mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) are high as Bihar goes to the the first phase of the Assembly elections on 121 of the 243 seats on Thursday. In the 2020 Assembly poll, it was an even-steven affair with the Mahagathbandhan winning 61 of the 121 seats and the NDA wresting the rest.

The alliance which scores over in the first phase will have an advantage in the journey to power. That is why the NDA's campaign had been intense in the 18 districts where the elections will be held. The candidates' fate is to be decided by over 3.5 crore voters, and since the polls are being held after Chhath festival -- an occasion when a huge migrant population returns to the state -- the voting percentage is expected to be higher. Leaders of both the alliances have appeale

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