E-Paper
Paswan seeks to break poll record in Banana belt
He makes it all seem destined, but Ram Vilas Paswan's overconfidence could trip him up unless he woos the voters right in this Banana-growing Hajipur Lok Sabha constituency.
He makes it all seem destined, but Ram Vilas Paswan's overconfidence could trip him up unless he woos the voters right in this Banana-growing Hajipur Lok Sabha constituency.
Paswan, considered Bihar's 'tallest' Dalit leader, says he's "in the poll arena just to better my previous records."
Paswan first contested from Hajipur, on the northern flank of the Ganga in 1977, when he set a Guinness record by scoring a victory with the highest margin of 4.24 lakh votes.
However, that record has long been shattered - in 1991 - when P V Narsimha Rao won the Nandyal Lok Sabha seat by over five lakh votes after becoming Prime Minister.
Paswan, LJP president and Union Steel and Chemicals and Fertilizer minister, is seeking an 8th Lok Sabha term from the seat and is locked in what promises to be a battle royale with former Chief Minister and JD(U) nominee Ram Sunder Das, who has been pulled out of political oblivion to take on Paswan.
Much water has flown down the river Ganga since the Lok Janshakti party chief last won the seat in 2004 capitalising on anti-NDA sentiments.
Paswan had defeated Chhedi Paswan, who had defected to JD (U) after being denied ticket by RJD from Sasaram (SC) constituency he had twice won in the past, by a margin of over 2.39 lakh votes.
