Upendra Singh, owner of a small ayurvedic medicine store at the Sonho village market, bristles as soon as he is asked about the “election atmosphere”.

“Rudyji se tabah ho chuke hain. Abki palat dena hai (Rudy has ruined us. It’s time for change),” he says.

Two-term sitting MP and BJP candidate Rajiv Pratap Rudy is up against Lalu Prasad’s daughter Rohini Acharya from Saran, which used to be the RJD chief’s bastion till 10 years ago.

Singh, who identifies himself as an OBC Kurmi, describes Rudy as a “five-star neta” who has no time for poor country folk like him and has done nothing for the constituency.

But then comes the moment of revelation. “Ek hi cheez Rudyji ko bacha sakti hai (Only one thing can save Rudy),” he says and casts a meaningful look, pausing to see if this correspondent can guess it.

“Modiji,” he then provides the answer himself. “Desh ke liye Modi ka rehna zaroori hai (Modi needs to stay in power for the sake of the country).”

The same refrain is heard over and over again as one travels across Hajipur, Saran, Maharajganj and Siwan. That of “Modi and mahila” coming to the rescue of NDA candidates battling anti-incumbency.

Mahila — women — is a reference to the popularity of the Centre’s welfare schemes, particularly the free monthly rations, among homemakers.

The NDA has re-nominated several “unpopular MPs” in Bihar while Lalu is looking to dent chief minister Nitish Kumar’s non-Yadav OBC support base by putting up several candidates from the Koiri and Kushwaha castes.

But Malti Devi, a homemaker from the barber caste at Gadai Sarai in Hajipur, insists that “this government should continue”. The free ration scheme is a big help for poor families like hers, she says.

Sikanti Kumari, a Dalit woman at Mirzapur village in Saran, believes the battle is between “Modi and Lalu”, not Rudy and Rohini, but fights shy of revealing her choice.

After a lot of persuasion, she says: “Everyone says Modi is fittest for the job. He gives ration to the poor.”

Some 70km northwest of Mirzapur, at Pachraur market on the Patna-Siwan road, Dhanesh Shah, a seller of tea and snacks, says he will vote for the BJP again.

He is happy with the free ration scheme and believes that law and order is much better compared with the RJD days.

Asked about the performance of the sitting Maharajganj MP, Janardan Singh Sigrewal of the BJP, Shah dismisses him as “bilkul bekar (worthless)”.

Sunny Tiwari, a farmer at Kanhauli market, echoes him and explains: “No one will vote for Sigrewal, all the votes will be cast in Modi’s name.”

Tiwari is happy with Modi for his big-bang decisions like the Ram temple and the abrogation of Article 370, and “for raising the country’s prestige in the world”.

“Bharat ka danka pure duniya me baj raha hai (The world is rocking to India’s drumbeat),” he says.

Rows and rows of saffron flags, with pictures of Lord Ram and Hanuman, adorn the villages lining the 150km Patna-Siwan highway.

The villagers say the flags have been hanging since Ram Navami, observed on April 17 — and in a bigger way than previous years to celebrate the Ram temple’s consecration in Ayodhya three months earlier.

“On January 22, it was like a big Diwali with diyas (earthen lamps) lit across temples and villages. Ram Navami was celebrated on a bigger scale,” says Bhola Singh, who runs an eatery at Afrad on the highway.

Although the Ram temple is sparingly mentioned in political discussions, many people say it would influence their vote. “Ram lives in the heart of every Hindu,” asserts Montu Kumar in Siwan town.

Siwan shows the impact of the BJP’s Hindutva pitch. Hena Sahab, widow of the dreaded don, Mohammed Shahabuddin, is contesting as an Independent. After three unsuccessful attempts as RJD candidate, she has decided not to don any party colour.

Dressed like a traditional Muslim woman with a scarf covering her head and partially her face, Sahab has been visiting temples in Hindu areas. She has let herself be photographed with “Mata ki chunari” (the red cloth offered to Goddess Durga at temples) wrapped around her neck.

The son of a local temple priest, his forehead smeared heavily to highlight his identity and status, travels with Sahab in a nod to the demands of optics.

The landed upper castes in Siwan, who used to look to Shahabuddin for protection against Naxalites, are believed to be drifting towards Sahab, whose camp has ruled out a return to the RJD if she wins. Her camp says she would back the NDA by joining either Chirag Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party or the JDU.

The RJD’s Muslim-Yadav combination seems to have split here, with many Muslims backing Sahab. If the upper castes join them, it could make a strong combination.

BJP cadres and the upper castes here are angry with JDU nominee Vijay Lakshmi, wife of a former party MLA who was once with the Naxalites and faces many criminal charges.

“The JDU candidate’s husband had been a gala katwa (a reference to the killing of upper castes by ultra-Left cadres), so most upper caste voters are supporting Hena Sahab,” said Pawan Singh, who runs a petrol pump in Siwan.

Saran and Hajipur vote on May 20; Maharajganj and Siwan on May 25