PATNA, Oct. 30 -- In Raghopur, the family bastion of the Opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Ramanand Thakur, 75, and Vibhas Kumar, 27, embody what Bihar elections are all about. Thakur said that he would vote for the Janata Dal (United) leader and Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar for the developmental works he has carried out in the last 20 years while Kumar vouches for RJD's Tejashwi Yadav, who is the party's candidate from Raghopur, as he has promised to provide government jobs to one member of every family, making it a Kumar versus Yadav contest. Both, however, concur that all pre-poll freebies by Nitish and election promises of Tejaswhi cannot break the strong caste control over voters. "Eventually, a large number of people vote on caste lines," Thakur said. Kumar reasoned that the leaders have developed caste-based vote-banks and are not work oriented. Thakur, who is from EBC category and a resident of Dilarpur Goberdhan village, said, "I am getting a higher old age pension, my son is going to an engineering college opened in Chak Sikanderpur. Roads are good and there is peace. What else does anybody want? If this is not development or Vikash, what else is it." Around 15 km away, in Masura village, Kumar dismissed the NDA's claims of road and infrastructure development as a sham. "Just building a few roads cannot solve Bihar's biggest problem - unemployment. There is massive corruption in the state government's recruitment process," Kumar alleged. He also highlighted Tejashwi Yadav's job promise, recalling that Yadav had provided five lakh jobs during his brief 17-month tenure as deputy chief minister under Nitish Kumar. From the Raghopur seat, RJD leader Tejashwi is seeking a third term against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s Satish Kumar Yadav, who is a former MLA and Jan Suraj candidate Chanchal Singh in the high stakes poll. In the run up to the state assembly polls, both the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and opposition RJD-Congress led INDIA bloc have tried to make jobs a major election issue with the NDA's promising of giving 1 crore jobs in next five years and Tejashwi promising jobs to every household not government by government employment, if he comes to power. Dinesh Kumar Singh, who works as an engineer with a reputed private firm in Nepal and is from Sheetalpur area of Vaisali, felt that Tejashwi's promise of covering all households with government jobs was impossible. "The state would require Rs.7 lakh crore if over 2 crore households are given government employment. This is a poll rhetoric. We are not buying it. We need industries," Kumar said. Nitish Kumar enhanced pension for widows and senior citizens to Rs.1,100 from Rs.400 monthly, 125 units of free power and Rs.10,000 assistance money to woman of every household to start a business under Mukhya Mantri Rojgar Yojana is an issue of debate. The CM's focus on pushing infrastructure and women empowerment and Tejahwsi's promise of giving higher wages to Jeevika Didis also echo among voters. Mala Devi, from scheduled caste group at Kalayanpur Dihi, applauded the government for giving her Rs.10,000 but was unsure whether Tejashwi would be able to deliver on his promise. "Aagey kya milega, kya pata. Abhi toh sarkar diye hain (I do not know about the future. Right now, the government has delivered)"she said....