Posted:
BJP faces a resurgent RJD in
Seemanchal, Bhagalpur
Priyarag Verma IBNLive.com | 21-Apr-2014
15:31 PM
As the electoral battle in Bihar shifts to
Seemanchal and eastern region of the state,
the polarisation for and against Bharatiya
Janata Party becomes more acute as there is
the high concentration of Muslim voters in
the seven seats for which voting will take
place on April 24 in the sixth phase of Lok
Sabha elections. The seats voting on April 24
are Banka, Bhagalpur, Katihar, Kishanganj,
Purnia, Araria and Supaul.
In fact it is the charisma of RJD chief Lalu
Prasad that is the biggest stumbling block for
the BJP in the seven seats going to vote. The
extremely aggressive campaign by Lalu in
Seemanchal and Bhagalpur has seen a
consolidation of votes in favour of his party
and alliance partners who hope to win most
of the seven seats voting in the third phase
of elections in Bihar.
Muslims are almost 70 per cent of the
electorate in Kishanganj where Janata Dal
United candidate Akhtarul Iman declared that
he won't contest so that the minority vote
doesn't split and goes en bloc to Congress's
Asrarul Haque. The move saw the BJP crying
foul as its candidate Dilip Kumar Jaiswal was
hoping to benefit from the division of
Muslim votes. But with Iman pulling out,
Jaiswal faces an almost insurmountable task
against the sitting Congress MP.
Sensing that a poor show will derail its
plan of winning over 25 seats from the
state, the state BJP leadership has gone
into an overdrive.
While Kishanganj may seem to be an
exception with Muslims in majority, the
community is in a position to play the
kingmaker in Purnia, Araria and Katihar too.
Katihar has almost 43 per cent Muslims while
in Araria it is over 41 per cent. Purnia with
almost 30 per cent, Bhagalpur 20 per cent and
Supaul, which has over 15 per cent Muslim
voters, too are giving nightmares to the BJP.
Banka has just 13 per cent Muslims and the
BJP is finding the going a little easy here.
The BJP had won Purnia, Katihar, Araria and
Bhagalpur in 2009 while Putul Kumari, the
Independent MP from Banka, joined the
party just a couple of months back although
her late husband Digvijay Singh had won the
seat on a JDU ticket. Supaul went to JDU
while Congress won in Kishanganj.
Even the overemphasis of the BJP on
backward castes seems to be following the
path of diminishing returns with its
traditional vote bank of forwards castes
feeling slighted. While they have not openly
come out against any of the party nominees,
the relatively lower turnout in the seven
seats - Buxar, Jehanabad, Arrah, Munger,
Nalanda, Patna Sahib and Pataliputra - which
voted on April 17 has sent the alarm bells
ringing in the party's state unit.
A couple of senior BJP leaders told IBNLive
on conditions of anonymity that they are
worried over the party's traditional
supporters not coming out to vote in large
numbers. One of them said that many BJP
voters seemed confident that since the party
is anyway winning the election, so they can
take it easy which may prove to be
detrimental when EVMs are opened and
results declared on May 16. He added that in
Bihar the fight was between the BJP-LJP-
RLSP combine and the RJD-Congress-NCP
alliance with the JDU relegated to the third
spot.
But in Seemanchal and Bhagalpur the going
is proving to be very tough for the party
which is aiming to sweep a majority of the 40
seats in Bihar in its bid to return to power at
the Centre after 10 years especially following
the apathy of forward castes.
Except Purnia where JDU's Santosh
Kushwaha is seen as the strongest candidate
to take on the BJP, in all the other seats it is
the RJD-Congress-NCP alliance which is
making it tough for the saffron brigade.
RJD's Mohammad Taslimuddin, a veteran of
many political battles and a man charged
with several serious criminal offences, is
facing BJP sitting MP Pradip Kumar Singh
and JDU's Vijay Mandal in Araria. BJP leaders
accuse JDU of deliberately putting up a
candidate who will take away the votes of
the OBCs, EBCs and Mahadalits to ensure
Singh's defeat.
The scenario is no different in Purnia where
JDU candidate Santosh Kushwaha takes on
yet another sitting MP Uday Singh of BJP and
Congress's Amarnath Tiwari. Here the charge
is against the Congress but the BJP, too, is
facing criticism of repeating a MP who is not
very popular due to his unapproachable
nature after the 2009 win. Incidentally Uday
Singh is the younger brother of Nand Kishore
Singh, the former JDU leader who joined the
BJP just a few weeks ago. NCP leader Tariq
Anwar is making it difficult for BJP's Nikhil
Chaudhary in Katihar. The other prominent
candidate is Ram Prakash Mahto of JDU.
While BJP's Shahnawaz Hussain has already
represented Bhagalpur, the famous silk town
of Bihar, this time is path is not easy as the
party is not united behind him. Although
Hussain is confident that BJP's tie up with
Ram Vilas Paswan's LJP and Upendra
Kushwaha's RLSP will bring in the votes that
will propel him to victory, his own party is
not united in Bhagalpur.
BJP MLA Ashwini Kumar Chaubey, the
candidate from Buxar, had been eyeing
Bhagalpur and his supporters have been
playing truant during the campaign. BJP's
rivals, too, have formidable candidates in the
fray. While RJD has put up Shailesh Kumar,
JDU's Abu Qaiser and BSP candidate
Naushaba Khanam are eyeing the minority,
EBCs and Mahadalit votes.
Even in Banka which does not have a large
Mulsim vote bank BJP's Putul Kumari faces a
strong candidate in Jai Prakash Narayan
Yadav of the RJD and Santosh Kumar of the
CPI, which is in alliance with the JDU.
Congress candidate Ranjeet Ranjan, the wife
of RJD candidate Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu
Yadav, is the frontrunner. She faces BJP's
Kameshwar Chaupal and Dileshwar Kamat of
the JDU, both of whom are considered to be
weak.
Sensing that a poor show will derail its plan
of winning over 25 seats from the state, the
state BJP leadership has gone into an
overdrive. BJP leaders are trying to ensure
that its voters come out in large numbers on
April 24.
Seemanchal, Bhagalpur
Priyarag Verma IBNLive.com | 21-Apr-2014
15:31 PM
As the electoral battle in Bihar shifts to
Seemanchal and eastern region of the state,
the polarisation for and against Bharatiya
Janata Party becomes more acute as there is
the high concentration of Muslim voters in
the seven seats for which voting will take
place on April 24 in the sixth phase of Lok
Sabha elections. The seats voting on April 24
are Banka, Bhagalpur, Katihar, Kishanganj,
Purnia, Araria and Supaul.
In fact it is the charisma of RJD chief Lalu
Prasad that is the biggest stumbling block for
the BJP in the seven seats going to vote. The
extremely aggressive campaign by Lalu in
Seemanchal and Bhagalpur has seen a
consolidation of votes in favour of his party
and alliance partners who hope to win most
of the seven seats voting in the third phase
of elections in Bihar.
Muslims are almost 70 per cent of the
electorate in Kishanganj where Janata Dal
United candidate Akhtarul Iman declared that
he won't contest so that the minority vote
doesn't split and goes en bloc to Congress's
Asrarul Haque. The move saw the BJP crying
foul as its candidate Dilip Kumar Jaiswal was
hoping to benefit from the division of
Muslim votes. But with Iman pulling out,
Jaiswal faces an almost insurmountable task
against the sitting Congress MP.
Sensing that a poor show will derail its
plan of winning over 25 seats from the
state, the state BJP leadership has gone
into an overdrive.
While Kishanganj may seem to be an
exception with Muslims in majority, the
community is in a position to play the
kingmaker in Purnia, Araria and Katihar too.
Katihar has almost 43 per cent Muslims while
in Araria it is over 41 per cent. Purnia with
almost 30 per cent, Bhagalpur 20 per cent and
Supaul, which has over 15 per cent Muslim
voters, too are giving nightmares to the BJP.
Banka has just 13 per cent Muslims and the
BJP is finding the going a little easy here.
The BJP had won Purnia, Katihar, Araria and
Bhagalpur in 2009 while Putul Kumari, the
Independent MP from Banka, joined the
party just a couple of months back although
her late husband Digvijay Singh had won the
seat on a JDU ticket. Supaul went to JDU
while Congress won in Kishanganj.
Even the overemphasis of the BJP on
backward castes seems to be following the
path of diminishing returns with its
traditional vote bank of forwards castes
feeling slighted. While they have not openly
come out against any of the party nominees,
the relatively lower turnout in the seven
seats - Buxar, Jehanabad, Arrah, Munger,
Nalanda, Patna Sahib and Pataliputra - which
voted on April 17 has sent the alarm bells
ringing in the party's state unit.
A couple of senior BJP leaders told IBNLive
on conditions of anonymity that they are
worried over the party's traditional
supporters not coming out to vote in large
numbers. One of them said that many BJP
voters seemed confident that since the party
is anyway winning the election, so they can
take it easy which may prove to be
detrimental when EVMs are opened and
results declared on May 16. He added that in
Bihar the fight was between the BJP-LJP-
RLSP combine and the RJD-Congress-NCP
alliance with the JDU relegated to the third
spot.
But in Seemanchal and Bhagalpur the going
is proving to be very tough for the party
which is aiming to sweep a majority of the 40
seats in Bihar in its bid to return to power at
the Centre after 10 years especially following
the apathy of forward castes.
Except Purnia where JDU's Santosh
Kushwaha is seen as the strongest candidate
to take on the BJP, in all the other seats it is
the RJD-Congress-NCP alliance which is
making it tough for the saffron brigade.
RJD's Mohammad Taslimuddin, a veteran of
many political battles and a man charged
with several serious criminal offences, is
facing BJP sitting MP Pradip Kumar Singh
and JDU's Vijay Mandal in Araria. BJP leaders
accuse JDU of deliberately putting up a
candidate who will take away the votes of
the OBCs, EBCs and Mahadalits to ensure
Singh's defeat.
The scenario is no different in Purnia where
JDU candidate Santosh Kushwaha takes on
yet another sitting MP Uday Singh of BJP and
Congress's Amarnath Tiwari. Here the charge
is against the Congress but the BJP, too, is
facing criticism of repeating a MP who is not
very popular due to his unapproachable
nature after the 2009 win. Incidentally Uday
Singh is the younger brother of Nand Kishore
Singh, the former JDU leader who joined the
BJP just a few weeks ago. NCP leader Tariq
Anwar is making it difficult for BJP's Nikhil
Chaudhary in Katihar. The other prominent
candidate is Ram Prakash Mahto of JDU.
While BJP's Shahnawaz Hussain has already
represented Bhagalpur, the famous silk town
of Bihar, this time is path is not easy as the
party is not united behind him. Although
Hussain is confident that BJP's tie up with
Ram Vilas Paswan's LJP and Upendra
Kushwaha's RLSP will bring in the votes that
will propel him to victory, his own party is
not united in Bhagalpur.
BJP MLA Ashwini Kumar Chaubey, the
candidate from Buxar, had been eyeing
Bhagalpur and his supporters have been
playing truant during the campaign. BJP's
rivals, too, have formidable candidates in the
fray. While RJD has put up Shailesh Kumar,
JDU's Abu Qaiser and BSP candidate
Naushaba Khanam are eyeing the minority,
EBCs and Mahadalit votes.
Even in Banka which does not have a large
Mulsim vote bank BJP's Putul Kumari faces a
strong candidate in Jai Prakash Narayan
Yadav of the RJD and Santosh Kumar of the
CPI, which is in alliance with the JDU.
Congress candidate Ranjeet Ranjan, the wife
of RJD candidate Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu
Yadav, is the frontrunner. She faces BJP's
Kameshwar Chaupal and Dileshwar Kamat of
the JDU, both of whom are considered to be
weak.
Sensing that a poor show will derail its plan
of winning over 25 seats from the state, the
state BJP leadership has gone into an
overdrive. BJP leaders are trying to ensure
that its voters come out in large numbers on
April 24.
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