Nawada has glorious past, but a ‘tense’ future

NAWADA: Once a part of glorious Magadh dynasty, Nawada now figures on the list of extremist-infested districts in the state with illegal mica mining rampant in Rajauli. Nawada also has the dubious record of over 300 caste-based killings, between 1996 and 2003, the highest in Bihar. Also, the district is plagued by unemployment and record labour migration of around 5 lakh people every year to other states.
The parliamentary constituency is poised for a direct fight between LJP’s Chandan Kumar Singh and RJD’s Vibha Devi.Although making their electoral debut, both belong to politically powerful families with criminal records. Chandan (36), who is the youngest brother of don-turned-politician and former MP Surajbhan Singh, also faces two criminal cases lodged with Pirbahore (FIR no 296/2003) and Saharsa (FIR no 112/2005) police stations. His bhabhi (sister-in-law) and Surajbhan’s wife Veena Devi is the sitting LJP MP from Munger. LJP gave away Munger seat to JD(U) while sitting Nawada MP Giriraj Singh of BJP was shifted to Begusarai as per the seat-sharing arrangements among the three NDA partners in Bihar.
Vibha (53), though a housewife, is the spouse of former Nawada RJD MLA Rajballabh Yadav, who is serving life sentence for raping a minor schoolgirl. “Mere pati ko JD(U) ke logon né gehri saazish kar ke fasaya hai. Unke 2015 mein Nawada se vidhayak chuna jana JD(U) ke neta log ko jhatka diya tha (My husband has been framed by JD(U) as his victory in 2015 assembly election had ruffled the feathers of many),” Vibha told this newspaper after filing her nomination papers.
On criminal cases against him, Chandan said he was a victim of “pulisia jyadati (police high-handedness)”. “Mai voter ki madad se record maton se chunav jitoonga (I will win with record margins with the support from voters),” he said.
Nawada parliamentary constituency consists of six assembly segments — Rajauli, Govindpur, Hisua, Nawada and Warisaliganj in Nawada and Birbigha in adjoining Sheikhpura district.
Nawada had an envious past, but continued political and administrative neglect pushed it to abject backwardness and an impoverished state. It has no industry worth its name after the closure of Mohini Sugar Mill in 1993. Bidi and agarbathi manufacturing is limited to a few dozen homes in Nawada and Hisua sectors. A charkha industry is being run at Khanwa village under the Narhat police station area due to the initiative launched by Giriraj a couple of years ago.
Both the state as well as the central government reneged on their plans to open a 28MW nuclear power plant at Rajauli, as was announced in 2006, due to paucity of round-the-clock water supply to wash uranium.
Formerly a sub-division, Nawada was carved out of old Gaya district in 1972 along with Jehanabad and Aurangabad sub-divisions. It has witnessed 16 Lok Sabha polls and so far sent only two women — Satyabhama Devi (1957, INC) and Malti Devi (1998, RJD) — to the Lok Sabha.
Following delimitation in 2009, Nawada was accorded a general constituency status from its earlier SC (reserved) status. The change resulted in sending two upper caste BJP candidates — Bhola Singh (2009) and Giriraj Singh (2014) — to the Lok Sabha. Further, the male (9,83,065) and female (9,08,871) voters are nearly equal in strength. But as the voter turnout is more from the SC, EBC, backward caste groups as compared to the forward caste voters, the result could go either way.
Chandan’s candidature has also surprised the 18 lakh plus Bhumihar electorate who expected BJP to go in for a hat-trick in 2019. Giriraj, too, reluctantly accepted to contest from Begusarai against formidable Kanhaiya Kumar (CPI), the former JNU Students’ Union president.
Noted physician Dr Shatrughan Prasad Singh said: “Giriraj would have easily won from Nawada had he been re-nominated. However, it could not be said about LJP’s Chandan, whose nomination has surprised many a voter.”
With Yadavs and Bhumihars sharing almost 60% of the votes, RJD is likely to generate sympathy for Rajballabh to win the seat for his wife.
Bachan Singh, who retired from Birbigha’s SKRM College, said that Chandan “ko jitney ke liye bahut sangharsh karna hoga. Modi ke naam par unko Bhumihar samuday vote karegi (Although Chandan faces a tough contest against the Grand Alliance candidate, the Bhumihars would stand with him to support Modi)”.