The ‘Others’ in Bihar: The Third Front, the Left and Owaisi

Aside from the NDA and Mahagathbandhan, here’s a look at what the ‘others’ have to gain in the Bihar polls.

Understandably, the discussion around the Bihar elections has been largely focused on the two major alliances, the BJP led NDA and the Mahagathbandhan. There are also two other alliances in the fray. The Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), along with Pappu Yadav’s Janadhikar Party and a smattering of other small parties have formed a Third Front.

The six left parties have also come together to contest the elections on their own steam.

Then of course, there is Asaduddin Owaisi’s AIMIM, which is contesting six seats in Seemanchal, an area with a relatively high percentage of Muslims.

In the polarised campaign, these parties have been derided as ‘vote katua’ parties.

So what is the best case scenario for the ‘others’ in this Bihar election?