Bihar elections: Political war on Raghopur constituency

The political parties in Bihar have fixed their eyes on Raghopur constituency which is a prestigious seat for RJD. BJP feels that LJP is also trying to help RJD by fielding Rakesh Roshan and dubbed Chirag Paswan as vote splitter.

Patna: Battle lines have been drawn for Raghopur assembly constituency with RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav and his main BJP rival Satish Kumar filing nominations on Wednesday. A part of Hajipur Lok Sabha constituency, Raghopur has more than three lakh voters and is a prestigious seat for Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD).

RJD has been winning this seat from the past two decades and Tejashwi had won on his maiden outing in electoral politics in 2015.

BJP has fielded Satish Kumar, a major opponent of RJD, from Raghopur constituency. Kumar who had emerged as a giant killer after defeating former chief minister Rabri Devi from the same seat in the 2010 polls, had lost to Lalu Prasad's younger son last time.

But, at that time BJP was fighting alone and Tejashwi was a nominee of the grand alliance which then comprised of RJD, JD(U) and the Congress.

Located on the bank of river Ganga across capital Patna, Raghopur is a Yadav dominated constituency which Lalu Prasad represented in the assembly twice since 1995 and his wife Rabri Devi from 2005-10. The village also has a good number of Rajputs but the dominance of Yadavs have always benefitted RJD.

But, the seat went to Satish Kumar, a fellow caste man, in 2010 when BJP and JD(U) were together in the NDA. But now trouble has mounted for RJD after the exit of senior leader Uday Narayan Rai and other leaders. All of them have joined JD(U).

Rai is considered a grassroots level leader with a good hold among political workers and organisational set up in Raghopur constituency.

READ: Nityanand Rai challenges Tejashwi for a debate

If we look at the numbers, the Yadav voters are decisive in the Raghopur assembly constituency. There are more than 80,000 Yadav voters and around 35,000 Rajput voters in the region.

Raghopur also has 17,000 Paswan voters and 15,000 Chaurasia voters.

The contest is expected to get fierce as Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), which has dissociated itself from the ruling NDA in Bihar, has fielded Rakesh Roshan as its nominee from the seat. He is expected to gain a section of upper caste votes, which are considered to be the primary vote bank of the saffron party.

After this move, Hindustan Awam Morcha (HAM) has attacked LJP saying that it wants to help RJD.

"To help Tejashwi Yadav in the Lok Janshakti Party, he has fielded a forward caste candidate. There is resentment about LJP in BJP camp'', said Danish Rizwan, HAM spokesperson.

BJP State President Sanjay Jaiswal has said that the caste candidate whom Chirag Paswan has fielded will benefit RJD. He said that everyone knows that Chirag Paswan wants to help Tejashwi Yadav somewhere.

LJP spokesperson Shravan Kumar has said that Rakesh Roshan is a party worker and also the state president of IT cell.

"I do not know what party has to say but our candidates will win the election from there," he added.

The Bihar Assembly elections are scheduled to be held in three phases on October 28, November 3 and November 7. The counting of votes will take place on November 10.

READ:RJD never settled with BJP, RSS for power: Tejashwi Yadav

With PTI inputs