Begusarai: Strong presence of Leave It had earned Begusarai the nickname ‘Leningrad Bihar’, but the Red Brigade here is now grappling with a saffron surge.
the Bharatiya Janata Party He sent the Union Minister Giriraj Singh Back from Begusarai, while Consumer price index Awadesh Rai, was nominated as the united opposition candidate in the seat where the situation has changed a lot compared to what it was in 2019.
But the main change, the mentality of voters, was noticed even earlier.
This ideological drift was perhaps best witnessed in the watershed elections of 2014, when the seat was won by the late Bhola Singh on a BJP ticket, decades after he began his political career as a member of the Communist Party of India.
Five years later, with Bhola Singh gone, the BJP brought here Giriraj Singh, an “outsider” who inflicted a crushing defeat on the “local” Kanhaiya Kumar.
The election battle this time is not as eye-catching as it was in 2019, thanks to the electrifying presence of Kanhaiya Kumar, who launched an enthusiastic campaign in which many celebrities like Javed Akhtar, Shabana Azmi, Swara Bhaskar and Prakash Raj participated. They lent their weight.
The CPI(M) debutant, who has since moved to the Congress which he fielded from north-east Delhi, was hit hard by the RJD’s decision to field its own candidate which cut into the anti-BJP votes, handing Giriraj Singh victory on a plate. He went, with a lead of more than four thousand votes.
However, five years later, many variables appear to have changed. The “outsider” label against Singh, who hails from Barahiya in Lakhesarai district, on the other side of the Ganges, may no longer apply. But the absence of an overarching narrative of nationalism fueled by the Pulwama terror attack leaves the Union Minister devoid of the gravitas he wished he had used in his disturbing speech.
Moreover, unlike in 2019, the RJD, arguably the most powerful regional party in Bihar, is not trying to play spoilsport this time. Its chemistry with the Left was also tried and tested in the 2020 Assembly polls when the CPI(ML), CPI(ML) and CPI(M) together came out with a better than expected performance.
In the Assembly polls, the CPI(M) bagged two seats, both in Begusarai, where the RJD also bagged the same number, while the BJP and RJD could only win three seats.
Unlike his predecessor Bhola Singh who was a stalwart of the party, having tried his luck in a number of parties before joining the BJP, Giriraj Singh is an RSS hardliner, who gained fame as an ABVP activist.
Tall and powerfully built, the Union Minister has proudly placed ‘Shandilya’, his ‘gotra’, on his X profile, and moves around wearing a fiery red ’tilak’ on his broad forehead and a tuft of hair hanging from his crown. Warning everyone who comes his way that this is the man who wears Hindutva on his sleeve.
Singh’s inflammatory speeches in the 2014 elections led to a 48-hour ban by the Election Commission, which criticized him again five years later for his statements targeting a particular community.
The hardliner is clearly unfazed, as evidenced by the speech he gave after submitting his nomination papers, in which he declared with unparalleled bravado: “We do not need the votes of pro-Pakistan traitors.”
A complaint was immediately filed before the EC by veteran CPI(M) leader Shatrughan Singh who highlighted the sectarian connotations in the BJP leader’s speech and claimed that if the Union Minister indeed had credible information that Begusarai had “pro-Pak elements” then he should be prosecuted. . For not submitting the matter to the authority under his command.
Recently, a video clip went viral in which locals are seen approaching Singh and demanding an apology for “calling Begusarai Deshdrohi residents traitors”.
They can be heard saying in the local dialect: “We voted for you even though you are an outsider. The son of our soil (Kanhaiya) lost to you. But you did nothing for the region. Now you have to apologize for using such language.” .
“Aren’t you a son of Begusarai,” Singh replies with great indignation on his face.
Notably, the Communist Party of India is also Singh’s main rival, with former MLA Awadesh Rai, the party’s candidate.
The choice of Rai, an OBC Yadav, seems counterintuitive in a seat that, until now, has always elected upper-caste Bhumihars, except in 2009 when Jordanian Dinar (JD)Munther Hasan became MP from Begusarai.
the RJD, which was the most favored party among the numerically powerful Yadavs, seems very aware of the challenge. The reason is the actual leader of the RJD Tejashwi Yadav He accompanied Rai when he submitted the nomination papers.
Yadav targeted Giriraj Singh because he had “done nothing but Hindus against Muslims in the last five years”.
The RJD leader also asked voters at an election rally: “Do not trust Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s assurances.” These people like Chinese goods that come with no warranty.
On May 13, when voters cast their ballots in Begusarai, they will demonstrate, among other things, whether the chemistry between the Rally for Democracy and the Left is strong enough in the parliamentary elections.
The district has 21.86 lakh eligible voters.
(Published 01 May 2024, 09:24 he)