This story is from May 17, 2019

Ashwini Kumar Choubey faces tough battle in Buxar

Ashwini Kumar Choubey faces tough battle in Buxar
Ashwini Kumar Choubey
BUXAR: When the going gets tough, the tough gets going. This old adage holds true for Union minister and BJP’s Buxar nominee Ashwini Kumar Choubey, who is moving from one village to another to woo the electorate spread over three districts – Buxar, Kaimur and Rohtas.
And to top it all, Choubey managed to ensure PM Narendra Modi’s election rally at Buxar two days ago. “The PM’s rally has changed the electoral scene to some extent.
A major chunk of Rajputs, who have sizable population in the constituency, will now go with Choubey,” says Rajesh Kumar Pandey (35), a resident of Itarhi under the Buxar assembly segment.
Choubey’s main rival, Jagadanand Singh of RJD, is a Rajput who enjoys immense support from people belonging to this community. Singh, a former MP and a five-term MLA from Ramgarh in Kaimur district, is giving a tough challenge to Choubey this time.
NDA’s star campaigners, such as CM Nitish Kumar and his Uttar Pradesh counterpart Yogi Adityanath, have also campaigned in the constituency to garner support for Choubey, a well-known Brahmin face of BJP and a hardcore Hindutva follower.
Choubey had defeated RJD’s Jagadanand Singh with a margin of 1.03 lakh votes in 2014 Lok Sabha elections. “Abki baar ladai achcha hoyee. Lekin abki baar humni chukib na ja (It will be a good fight, but we will not be on the wrong end this time,” says Dinesh Singh (52), a resident of Rajput-dominated Parari village under Ramgarh assembly segment.
“While 80% of the total votes of the Rajputs will go in favour of Jagadanand because of the caste factor, the remaining 20% will be bagged by Choubey because of Modi factor,” says Rohan Singh (32), a farmer from Rajpur village.

Buxar Lok Sabha constituency comprises six assembly segments — Dumraon, Brahampur, Rajpur and Buxar in Buxar district, Rampur in Kaimur and Dinara in Rohtas district. Three seats are held by JD(U) and one each by BJP, RJD and the Congress. Altogether 18,11,992 voters will decide the fate of 15 candidates in this constituency on May 19.
Jagadanand had won the Lok Sabha election from Buxar in 2009 by defeating BJP’s Lalmuni Choubey by a slender margin of 23,000 votes on an RJD ticket. “With the massive support of Rajputs, Muslims and Yadavs, Jagadanand is in comfortable position,” says Birendra Singh (45), a resident of Gowardhanpur Lalachak village under the Rajpur assembly segment in Buxar district.
“Yahan ladayee Jagadanand aur Choubey ji mein na ba, ladayee aslee mein Lalu (Prasad) aur Modi (Narendra Modi) mein ba (The real fight here is between Lalu Prasad and Narendra Modi and not Jagadanand and Choubey),” says Rajdev Rajbhar (60), a resident of Ravni village near Rajpur bazar.
At Dumraon, the birthplace of Bharat Ratna recipient (2001) and Shehnai maestro Ustad Bismillah Khan, the voters talked about the local issues such as irregularities in paddy procurement scheme, non-payment of instalment of Kisan Samman Yojna, lack of educational institutions, health services and irrigation facilities. Traffic congestion has added to the woes of the residents.
The district has both historical as well as mythological significance. There is an ‘ashram’ of Vishwamitra where Ram and Laxman, the two sons of Ayodhya king, had studied. The famous battle took place near Chausa between the armies of Mughal ruler Humayun and Afghan ruler Sher Shah Suri on June 26, 1539.
PM Narendra Modi had announced at his election rally on Tuesday that Buxar would be connected through Ramayan circuit.
Choubey’s supporters give credit to their leader for works such as Buxar-Patna four-lane road, Buxar-Balia bridge over the Ganga and Chausa power plant. “If Choubey is given another term, he will deliver more for the development of the constituency, which has remained neglected for long,” says Ishanand Mishra (35), a resident of Brahmapur assembly segment.
BSP candidate Sushil Kumar is trying to eat into Yadav-Kushwaha votes, considered to be the main strength of Grand Alliance. In 2014, the BSP candidate had got just 0.22% less votes than RJD’s Jagadanand Singh, who had secured 21.02% votes. BSP chief Mayawati had also campaigned at Chausa in favour of Sushil recently.
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