New Delhi: The second phase of the Bihar assembly polls began on Tuesday morning. The electorate in 94 seats across 17 districts will choose their representatives in this crucial phase, and both the primary alliances hope to have a decisive edge over each other by the end of it.Of the 94 seats, the Rashtriya Janata Dal is contesting 56, the Congress 24, the Bharatiya Janata Party 46, and the Janata Dal (United) 43 seats. The Left parties have fielded their candidates in 14 constituencies as part of the opposition alliance, while the Mukesh Sahni’s Vikasheel Insaan Party (VIP) will be contesting five out of its quota of 11 seats in the National Democratic Alliance.The phase will also seal the fate of RJD chief ministerial candidate Tejashwi Yadav and his brother Tej Pratap Yadav. Tejashwi is contesting from Vaishali’s Raghopur, while Tej Pratap has left Mahua, from where he is the sitting MLA, to contest from Samastipur’s Hasanpur. Tejashwi has been challenged by BJP’s Satish Rai and Tej Pratap is up against two-time JD(U) MLA Rajkumar Rai. In the Parsa seat of Saran district, JD(U) has fielded Tej Pratap’s estranged father-in-law Chandrika Rai, who is up against RJD’s Chhote Lal Rai.All the four assembly segments in Patna – Kumhrar, Bankipur, Digha and Patna Sahib – are also going to polls in this phase. All four are currently held by the BJP. State minister Nand Kishore Yadav is seeking his seventh consecutive term, while Nitin Nabin is trying his luck against Shatrughan Sinha’s son and Congress candidate Luv Sinha in Bankipur.From Digha, CPI (ML) candidate Shashi Yadav, the lone woman in the list of Left candidates, is contesting against incumbent MLA Sanjeev Chourasia.Also read: Bihar Polls: RJD, BJP Top List on Candidates With Criminal Cases in Second PhaseAll the seven constituencies from chief minister Nitish Kumar’s home district Nalanda are also going to polls in this phase.In the 2015 elections, the RJD had won 33 of the 94 seats, while its then coalition partner JD(U) had secured 30. The BJP won 20 while the Congress got seven.The Lok Janshakti Party, led by a spirited Chirag Paswan, has turned the contest triangular in many of these seats by fielding locally-influential leaders, mostly from the “forward castes”, to damage the JD(U) and RJD. It hasn’t put up its candidates against the BJP.Also read: Does Bihar’s ‘Good’ COVID-19 Data Reflect a Well-Managed Epidemic or Poor Detection?Chief minister Nitish is possibly facing his toughest elections in 2020, with resentment against him at an all-time high. At a time when the campaign was at its peak, its coalition partner BJP carefully distanced itself from Nitish in its advertisements and canvassing. The JD(U) is projected to face the heaviest losses, forcing the BJP to insulate itself from its ally. Towards the end of the campaign, the NDA banked entirely on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity – a far cry from previous elections, in which the BJP only used Nitish’s stature to gain numbers in the assembly.So much was the animosity between Nitish and Modi that the chief minister had refused to allow Modi to campaign in the 2010 assembly polls. Ten years down the line, tables have clearly turned, with the JD(U) hoping to minimise its losses by banking on the prime minister’s wide acceptance.