Polling has begun in the third phase of the Bihar elections on Wednesday, with 50 of the 243-seat assembly up for grabs. The 50 seats include state capital Patna, Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad’s political turf Saran and Janata Dal (United) head Nitish Kumar’s home district of Nalanda. Prasad’s two sons Tej Pratap Yadav and Tejaswi Yadav are also in the fray at Mahua and Raghopur.

Additional Chief Electoral Officer R Lakshmanan said a total of 1.45 crore electors are eligible to decide the fate of 808 candidates, 71 of whom are women, reported the Press Trust of India. Of the total 14,170 polling stations, 6,747 have been declared as critical and 1,909 as affected by left-wing extremists. Over half of the state will have voted by the end of this phase.

The build-up to the third phase has all been about the backward castes vote. With the Bharatiya Janata Party fearing a loss of votes from Dalit and backward communities on account of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat 's comments asking for a review of reservations in educational institutions and jobs, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday alleged a “conspiracy to take away 5% each” from the reservation quota of backward castes and Dalits and “give it to another community”.

Both Prasad and Kumar, who are in an alliance, dismissed the prime minister's allegations and said it was a last-ditch effort to polarise votes on communal lines.