"We want south Bihar to get permanent relief from drought": HAM leader Jitan Ram Manjhi

"Some primary issues are clear, North Bihar is often battered by flood. South Bihar suffers drought; we want South Bihar to get permanent relief from drought. Corridor of Budh and Vishnu should be built in Gaya," the Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) leader said.

The voting in four parliamentary constituencies of Bihar including Gaya, Nawada, Jamui, and Aurangabad is underway.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha election, all four seats went to the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) -- the BJP in Aurangabad, the Janata Dal-United (JD-U) in Gaya, and the then-united Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) from both Jamui and Nawada.

The state of Bihar, which has 40 Lok Sabha seats, is seen as one of the most significant states in Indian politics. With such a high number of seats in Lok Sabha, it is also the fourth-highest state overall.

In Gaya Lok Sabha constituency, Jitan Ram Manjhi and former minister and RJD candidate Kumar Sarvjeet are in the electoral fray. The seat was earlier represented in parliament by Vijay Kumar alias Vijay Manjhi of JD(U).

In the last Lok Sabha election, the JD (U) candidate defeated Manjhi by a margin of more than 1.52 lakh votes. Manjhi's HAM was part of a grand alliance in the last election.

Gaya has its religious significance as it's on the banks of the river Falgu. Internationally acclaimed Mahabodhi Mahavihara (temple), where Gautam Buddha got enlightenment, is located here. The seat has been represented by candidates belonging to Scheduled Caste (Manjhi--Musahar) for the last 25 years or so.

Though the Gaya seat has been reserved for scheduled castes for the last 25 years, political parties mainly focus on the votes of EBCs, OBCs, and Upper castes.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is seeking his third consecutive term, while the opposition bloc-INDIA- a coalition of opposing parties formed to take on the BJP in the general elections, is eyeing ousting him from power.

A total of 16.63 crore voters are going to vote in the first phase of Lok Sabha polls, deciding the fate of 1625 candidates, with Nitin Gadkari, Kiren Rijiju, Bhupendra Yadav, and Arjun Ram Meghwal among several Union ministers in the fray. (ANI)