Eye on Seemanchal minority votes, Nitish, Tejashwi to camp overnight in neighbouring Madhepura

By Mukesh Singh And Sahil Pandey
Patna (Bihar) [India], November 4 : Aiming at wooing the voters of Seemanchal-Kosi belt -- spread over the Muslim-dominated districts of Kishanganj, Araria, Katihar, and Purnia -- Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Mahagathbandhan chief ministerial candidate Tejashwi Yadav will camp overnight in neighbouring Madhepura district.
The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Congress, along with the Left parties -- which make the Grand Alliance -- have had a traditional sway over the voters in the Seemanchal region that has 24 seats among the remaining 78 constituencies, which will go to polls on Saturday.
Kumar will address five rallies, three in Katihar district and two in Purnia, before leaving for Patna on Thursday.
This time, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi seeks to toughen the competition in the region as a third front alternative, Grand Secular Democratic Front, against the JD(U)-led National Democratic Alliance and Mahagathbandhan.
Last October, AIMIM candidate Qamrul Hoda had already defeated BJP nominee Sweety Singh in a bypoll in Kishanganj.
In 2015, the RJD and the Congress had won 12 of the 19 seats between them.
The Congress had won the Kishanganj Assembly seat eight times in the past. Also, the Kishanganj Lok Sabha seat was the only one in the state that the Congress won during the General elections in 2019.
Going by the figures of Seemanchal, 35 per cent voters in Purnia, 45 per cent in Katihar, 51 per cent in Araria and 70 per cent in Kishanganj are Muslims.