Patna, Nov 5 (IANS): On November 7, elections will be held on 78 seats for the third and final phase of assembly elections in Bihar. Although the election in this phase is important for every political party, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Janata Dal United face the challenge of retaining their old seats. For the BJP, the challenge is to repeat the success of the 2010 elections.

In this phase, for the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), the BJP is contesting on 35 seats while its ally the JD (U) has fielded 37 candidates. In addition, five candidates of the Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) and one of the Hindustani Awam Morcha are in the fray.

On the other hand, for the Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance), the RJD is contesting on 46 seats and its ally the Congress on 25 assembly seats.

In the last election, the Mahagathbandhan had won 54 seats out of 78 in these areas, but the situation has changed this time round. After the coming together of the JD(U) and the BJP, the RJD may find it tough to replicate its success. The party had won 20 seats in the region in the last election. The same is case for the JD(U) that had won 23 seats from the region in the last election.

In the third phase of elections, the RJD and JD (U) are facing each other in a direct contest on 23 seats while the RJD has a prickly battle with the BJP on 20 seats. In this phase, the Congress faces the BJP on 14 seats and is contesting against the JD(U)on nine seats.

In 2010, 27 of the 91 seats that the BJP won came from this region. No wonder the BJP is working hard to replicate its success in the region.

However, the election in Seemanchal has never been easy for any party. The math here is fairly complicated. Asaduddin Owaisi's party, the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen is already preparing to field its candidate in this Muslim-dominated region and make a dent in RJD's vote bank.

The election for this phase is no less challenging for the Congress that is part of the Grand Alliance. In the last election, the party had won on 27 seats, but its four sitting seats have gone to the account of its allies.

Meanwhile, all parties are working hard to improve their position, but who would the voters favour will only be revealed on November 10 when the results are declared after the counting of votes.