The BJP and the JD(U) are leading in 16 seats each while the RJD and Congress struggle.

Bihar is critical to Opposition parties because if they win big in the state, they could hinder the BJP’s march back to power. It remains to be seen whether chief minister Nitish Kumar still has a grip on the backward castes in Bihar which sends 40 leaders to the Lok Sabha. The RJD has fielded only 25 candidates in these general elections, banking on smaller parties to win the non-Yadav OBC votes.

Illustration by Rahul Awasthi

Interestingly, Kumar is campaigning for Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the first time. In the last general elections, the NDA had won 31 seats in the state without having Kumar’s JD(U) in its fold.

Bihar is likely to vote on caste and religious lines. The state is 83 per cent Hindu and 17 per cent Muslim.