Smaller parties have flexed muscle, but will they be able to deliver on Tuesday?

NEW DELHI: NDA and Mahagathbandhan face the challenge of retaining their bastions and making fresh headways in the last phase of Bihar polls, and much will depend on whether their smaller allies, which will be fighting a majority of their seats on November 11, can deliver after having driven a good bargain from their principal partners. For NDA, Union minister Chirag Paswan-led LJP (RV) is contesting 15 of its total 28 seats - the nomination of one of its candidates was rejected - and Jitan Ram Manjhi-led HAM (Secular) all six of its constituencies in the second phase of elections. While both Paswan and Manjhi are Dalit mascots of the governing alliance, its Kushwaha face Upendra Kushwaha, too, has a lot at stake as his candidates, including his wife Snehlata Kushwaha, are in the fray