Campaigning set to pick up post puja for high-stake battle in Bihar’s Kusheshwarsthan

Cars, SUVs, auto-rickshaws, hand carts, all been moving around announcing the claims of their candidates

Bihar is witnessing two types of elections - a by-poll for two assembly seats and panchayat elections. While the stakes are high for the two assembly seats for both the Janata Dal-United (JD-U) and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), the panchayat elections, though not held on party lines in Bihar, too, have high-stake engagement, as is reflected through the scale of campaigning.

Image for representation. (File photo)

Cars, SUVs, auto-rickshaws, hand carts, all been moving around announcing the claims of their candidates to transform the rural landscape like cities, with school pick up facilities for children, roads, hospitals, community centres, electricity, etc. Promises are raining. Durga Puja provided the opportunity for candidates to make their visibility more pronounced and connect with the migrants who have arrived and are likely to stay at least till Chhath or beyond.

“Stakes are high this time, as funds for a lot of government schemes are now routed through the panchayati raj institutions. This has resulted in a higher number of candidates vying for posts. In rural areas, people are still largely ignorant and look up to local Councilors, mukhiya and other panchayat representatives for everything, be it the inclusion of name for old age or disability pension, Kisan Samman Yojana or crop loss compensation or just anything,” said Manoj Kumar, a labourer in Darbhanga’s village Kurson. But he, too, has his eyes on Kusheshwarsthan by-poll, which he feels could be a prestige battle.

Barely a few kilometres from there, on the smooth road to pilgrim place Kusheshahwarsthan, the mood changes, with heavy security keeping watch on vehicles passing through and carrying out routine checks. The deployment of security personnel makes the importance of Kusheshahwarsthan amply clear, where Congress has also fielded its candidate defying the RJD diktat. The fissures in the Opposition rank, with Congress veteran Ashok Ram’s son Atirek Kumar jumping in the fray, may appear to fritter away advantage, but JD-U is not ready to be complacent even a wee bit, as it has pushed its top leaders into campaigning.

Union minister and former JD-U president RCP Singh, whose ministry has included Chirag Paswan in its committee to spring a surprise, is also on the star campaigners’ list, while the party’s general secretary and state minister Sanjay Jha has been virtually camping there.

With puja over, the campaigning by top NDA leaders is likely to gather momentum, with chief minister Nitish Kumar scheduled to join in the last leg. Before that, former CM Jitan Ram Manjhi, education minister Vijay Kumar Choudhary, VIP Party’s Madan Shahni and other senior leaders of the NDA will build the momentum.

“JD-U has the edge because people have faith in Nitish Kumar as a leader who walks the talk, who delivers and who is head and shoulder above the rest. I have spent days in Kusheshwarsthan and I can feel the pulse a bit. Migrants coming to Kusheshwarsthan from far off places, alighting at Darbhanga airport and having a jerk-free ride to their homes narrate the difference. The experience of travelling 16 years ago is still a terse reminder to them. Even during the flood, the CM himself reached out to them by boat and ensured that they got relief without delay. Flood is not new to the area, but the changed response of the government is what has won people’s trust,” said Jha.

In RJD, the responsibility rests on the shoulders of Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, as party chief Lalu Prasad is unlikely to make it. To make things more complicated, there is speculation that his sulking brother Tej Pratap Yadav would campaign for Congress candidate Atirek and that could be a reason why Lalu Prasad has decided to stay away from the family drama. Former CM Rabri Devi is, however, back. Tejashwi, on the other hand, is gunning to pick up from where he left during the Assembly election, playing up youth issues like unemployment and corruption in a bid to corner the government, as he did in the Bihar Assembly.

“Unemployment, corruption and poor condition of the state will be the key issues in the by-election and the people will certainly show the mirror to the double-engine government, which has delivered nothing,” he said on his arrival in Patna, hinting that Lalu Prasad’s frail health may not allow him to come to Patna despite his strong desire.

In Kusheshwarsthan, there are eight candidates in the fray, including Chirag Paswan’s LJP (Ramvilas) candidate Anju Devi. It will be interesting to see which way Chirag cuts votes this time. Last time, he was openly against the JD-U. The LJP is known for its influence in the area, but this time Chirag’s uncle Pashupati Kumar Paras is with the NDA. Another interesting aspect is that former MP Pappu Yadav’s Jan Adhikar Party (JAP) has fielded Yogi Choupal from there, while his wife Ranjita Ranjan is the Congress observer for Kusheshwarsthan. But the contest is likely to be mainly among JD-U’s Aman Bhushan Hazari, son of late Shashi Bhushan Hazari, RJD’s Ganesh Bharti and Congress’ Atirek Kumar, while others could play spoilers for any of them in an electoral battle that could have serious ramifications on state politics.