PATNA: All eyes will be on Hajipur and Saran as voting for the fifth phase of elections in Bihar’s five assembly constituencies begins on Monday.
Chirag Paswan, son of veteran socialist and former Union Minister late Ram Vilas Paswan, is in the fray from Hajipur. In neighboring Saran, Lalu Prasad and Rabri Devi’s second daughter Rohini Acharya is making her debut at the polling station. Considered to be Mr Lal’s fiefdom from which he won for the first time in 1977 at the age of 29, Saran was then known as Chapra Lok and his Sabah constituency.
Sirag has been a Lok Sabha MP since 2014, but this is his first time contesting in Hajipur, where Ram Vilas Paswan won by a record margin in 1977. Senior Paswan had won seven times from Hajipur. However, he lost in 1984 and 2009. Sirag previously represented the sinus-ridden Jamui Lok Sabha seat and won back-to-back victories in 2014 and 2019. Sirag’s decision came after the death of Ram Vilas Paswan in 2020. Dissent from his father’s fiefdom and present himself as the true successor of Paswan senior by inheriting his legacy.
Equally important is Saran, where former Union Minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy is trying his best to score a hat-trick, having won from here in 2014 and 2019. Rudy’s path to victory the past two times was smooth, as was Ral’s win from Saran. He was convicted in 2009 in a fodder fraud case and was banned from standing for election in 2013. But this time, Rudy has locked horns with political upstart Rohini Acharya, who has flown all the way from Singapore to run from the seat she previously represented. her father.
Her second daughter Rohini is the sixth member of the Lal Rabri family to participate in the election campaign. In addition to her parents, who served as chief ministers of Bihar, Rohini’s sister Mitha Bharti is also a member of the Rajya Sabha and is contesting the Lok Sabha elections from Pataliputra Assembly constituency. Her two brothers, Tej Pratap, a former minister in the Nitish government, and former deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav, who are already active in politics, are rooting for her in Saran.
Besides these constituencies, voting is scheduled for May 20 in Darbhanga, Madhubani and Muzaffarpur. A total of 9,511,186 voters in five constituencies will exercise their right to vote on Monday. Voting is being held in seven phases in Bihar, which has 40 Sabah seats, with June 1 being the last day for voting in the remaining eight Sabah seats.
issued May 19, 2024, 22:16 IST
