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Bihar polls: Raghopur, Hasanpur seats to decide fate of Lalu’s two sons
Reliable sources said Tejashwi will file his nomination papers from Raghopur assembly seat on October 14 while Tej Pratap Yadav will file his papers from Hassanpur seat on October 13.
With the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) issuing symbols for the candidates for the second phase of Bihar assembly polls, all eyes are on two constituencies, Raghopur and Hasanpur, from where jailed RJD chief Lalu Prasad’s sons, leader of the opposition Tejaswhi Prasad Yadav and his elder brother Tej Pratap Yadav will contest.
Reliable sources said Tejashwi will file his nomination papers from Raghopur assembly seat on October 14 while Tej Pratap Yadav will file his papers from Hassanpur seat on October 13.
“Tejashwi will file his papers on October 14 and also address a public meeting in his constituency, as per schedule so far,” said a senior RJD leader, wishing not to be quoted.
This time, Tej Pratap, a sitting MLA from Mahua assembly seat in Vaisali district, has changed his constituency to Hasanpur assembly seat in Samastipur district probably to ensure a safe win as the constituency is considered an RJD stronghold with sizeable number of Yadav and Muslim voters.
Sources said the RJD has given ticket to Dr Mukesh Roshan from the Mahua seat this time. The party has not released the official list of candidates for the second phase yet. Sources said the RJD is contesting 64 seats out of 94 constituencies going to polls on November 3.
Also read: In Bihar, a battle between the old and the new
The contest in Raghopur will be a keenly fought one between Tejashwi and BJP’s nominee Satish Kumar who had been defeated by the 30-year Yadav scion in 2015 assembly polls. Satish, however, had shot to fame in 2010 assembly election when he had defeated former chief minister Rabri Devi by a margin of 13,006 votes.
Insiders in the RJD said the leader of the opposition has high stakes in the poll given the Yadav scion is the face of the Grand Alliance (GA) and the chief ministerial candidate of his party.
The exit of senior RJD leaders in the constituency, like former minister Uday Narayan Rai alias Bhola Rai, and a large number of RJD junior leaders at the block level a month back to join the ruling Janata Dal (United) has caused trouble for the RJD. Rai is considered a grassroots leader with a good hold among political workers and organisational set up in Raghopur constituency.
Sources said, the JD(U) was eyeing the seat to field its own candidate but it went to the BJP. The JD(U) is contesting four seats in Vaisali district.
“The contest is tough this time in Raghopur for Tejashwi as the BJP and the JD(U) are again fighting together this time. The traditional vote base of the RJD, especially Yadavs votes, will be crucial and any division in the core vote base could spell trouble for the party,” said a senior RJD leader.
BJP candidate, Satish Kumar, also belonging to Yadav caste, is also banking on caste votes apart from that of the EBCs, minorities and upper castes.
On the other hand, the contest in Hasanpur assembly seat would be also interesting to watch as Tej Pratap is pitted against Janata Dal (United) sitting MLA Raj Kumar Ray. Ray had won the seat in 2015 election by a margin of 29,600 votes by defeating his nearest rival Binod Choudhary of BLSP.
Tej Pratap had indicated his plans to contest from Hasanpur seat in Samastipur district by holding a roadshow in the constituency last month. RJD leaders admit the poll outcome of the two seats, Raghopur and Hasanpur, is important for the party as a loss of any of the Yadav scions would cause embarrassment for jailed RJD chief and raise a question mark on party’s hold among its core voters.
