Choudhary Mehboob Ali Kaiser takes on debutant Mukesh Sahni in Khagaria, banks on devpt works

PATNA/KHAGARIA: Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) chief Mukesh Sahni is trying his luck for the first time in the Lok Sabha election from Khagaria against sitting Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) MP Choudhary Mehboob Ali Kaiser. Krishna Kumari Yadav, wife of don-turned-politician Ranvir Yadav, is also in the fray on the CPI ticket.
Krishna, a former national level athlete, had lost to Kaiser by a margin of over 76,000 votes in the 2014 general election.Krishna was then the RJD candidate. Her husband had shot into limelight after he snatched a rifle from a police constable and opened fire in the air to chase away an unruly mob of contractual schoolteachers to clear the passage for CM Nitish Kumar’s cavalcade to cross Khagaria town in September 2014. Ranvir’s other wife Poonam Devi was then a JD(U) MLA from Khagaria.
The ‘Son of Mallah’ (fishermen), as he prefers to be called to garner support of his castemen, Mukesh is new to the electoral politics. He founded VIP in September 2018. “I am confident of my victory. Mallahs have a sizeable population in Khagaria, which is surrounded by many rivers. I will raise the issue of reservation for the Mallahs if elected to the Lok Sabha,” he said after the daylong electioneering on Sunday. The Grand Alliance candidate is also banking on the support bases of RJD, Congress, HAM(S) of Jitan Ram Manjhi and RLSP led by Upendra Kushwaha.
Kaiser, seeking re-election as the NDA candidate, is banking mainly on the upper castes, Muslims, OBCs and the EBCs. “I have represented Simri Bakhtiyarpur assembly constituency, which is part of the Khagaria Lok Sabha seat, thrice in the past. Besides, I was elected to the Lok Sabha in 2014. I am relying on the development works carried out in the area during my five-year tenure as MP,” he said.
Barring a few occasions (1952 and 1957), the constituency has a history of electing candidates from the backward community only. Political heavyweights like B K Azad, Yogendra Sharma alias Yogi Ji, P N Roy, Satya Narain Singh and Bimla Roy, who belonged to the dominant Bhumihar caste, had unsuccessfully contested the parliamentary elections in 1971, 1977, 1980, 1991 and 1998, respectively.
Except for Renu Kumari Kushwaha, no woman has ever tasted victory in this constituency. Renu was elected to the Lok Sabha in 1999 on the JD(U) ticket. However, other women such as Sumitra Devi (Congress), Bimla Roy (BJP) and Krishna Yadav (RJD) had contested from Khagaria.
Polarization of Yadav, Kurmi, Koer and OBC votes was stated to be the reason behind the débâcle of upper caste candidates in the past. Locals say Satish Chandra Mishra, a Brahmin, and Kameshwar Prasad Singh, a Rajput, were the only candidates from the upper castes to get elected from this seat in 1952 and 1957, respectively. “Since then, candidates from the backward community only have been elected to the Lower House,” said Jitendra Kumar Singh (71) of Hasanpur village under the same assembly segment in Khagaria Lok Sabha constituency.
The residents have since long been demanding the completion of Khagaria-Kusheshwarshtan rail project, which is pending for over two decades. “The proposed food park to be established at Ekania under Mansi block of the district at an estimated cost of Rs127 crore is also pending,” said Artimala Prakash (40), an employee of the local Mahila College.
Recurring flood, lack of roads (transportation) and rehabilitation of displaced persons due to erosion in rivers are the issues that dominate the scene. “However, no sincere efforts have been made by any MP to address the people’s grievances,” laments Satya Prakash Singh (45) of Alauli in Khagaria district.
Krishna is trying hard to woo maximum voters this time. “We have been fighting for the cause of the downtrodden ever since my husband got elected to the state assembly. Go anywhere in Khagaria, people will tell you about his (Ranvir’s) contributions,” she said.
On the contrary, local social activist Subhash Chandra Joshi said, “The inhabitants of the diara (riverine belt) such as Alouli, Beldaur, Chautham and Parbatta are yet to see the light of development. Their miseries can’t be described in words. Even candidates don’t prefer to visit them. They have been left to fend for themselves.”
The constituency doesn’t have any industrial unit. As a result, unemployment is rampant and people have to migrate to other cities for their livelihood.
It's a million dollar question whether Kaiser, who somehow managed to get the party symbol, be able to reach Parliament for the second time. He is, in fact, locked in a stiff battle with Sahni.