Before independence nationalism and anti-colonialism were the ideological basis of Indian National Congress (INC), Muslim League (ML) and even Jamiatul Ulema-Hind (JUH). Other than in the west all parties from their initiation referred to religion and some of them referred to ethnicity. ..…

There are 44 candidates contesting and the major parties are Lalu Prasad Yadav's Rashtriya Janata Dal, alliance with Congress and BJP with Janata Dal led by Nitish Kumar... There are 18 candidates contesting in neighbouring West Bengal and the major parties are Trinamool..…