Lok sabha polls 2014: BJP bank on Modi, JD(U) on secular card in Bihar

PATNA: Bihar's seven constituencies are going to polls on Thursday which will be the second phase in the state. Unlike the first on April 10, there's little fear of violence. The constituencies are Patna Sahib, Pataliputra, Jehanabad , Ara, Buxar, Nalanda and Munger in central Bihar.

Among important candidates in the fray are Shatrughan Sinha, Patna Sahib BJP MP who's being challenged by Bhojpuri actor Congress's Kunal Singh and AAP's Parveen Amanullah. In neighbouring Pataliputra, Lalu Prasad's daughter Misa Bharti is making her debut. CM Nitish Kumar's prestige is at stake in his home constituency Nalanda.

Among the other contestants are former Union home secretary BJP's Rajkumar Singh from Ara and ex-DGP Ashish Ranjan Sinha of Congress from Nalanda. There are 117 candidates and 11,846 polling stations have been set up. Modi and Rahul, Lalu Prasad, Nitish Kumar and Ram Vilas Paswan have campaigned in these constituencies.

BJP is banking on Modi, JD(U) is playing secular card. The party had initially raked up the special-category status issue but it did not click.