‘Brand Nitish’ set to trump caste in Nalanda

NALANDA: ‘Brand Nitish’ overshadows all poll factors in Nalanda. And that even includes dissatisfaction over sitting JD(U) MP Kaushlendra Kumar’s performance.
The Bihar CM’s sway over Nalanda can be gauged from the fact that JD(U) had won the seat even when the ‘Modi wave’ swept the state in 2014 elections. The only other seat JD(U) had won was Purnea.
This time, however, the buzz in Nalanda is that Kaushlendra would have faced a tough challenge had Mahagathbandhan fielded a strong candidate. Ashok Kumar Azad Chandervanshi, a nominee of Jitan Ram Manjhi-led HAM(S), was parachuted from Gaya by the RJD-led alliance. Locals feel a strong candidate would have shaken Nitish’s fortress as his sitting MP had won by a margin of around 10,000 votes.
“Whatever has been done in Nalanda is only because of Nitish Kumar, the JD(U) candidate has hardly done any work on his own. Besides, as Kaushlendra has won from here twice, there was a feeling that a chance can be given to another person,” said Pawan Kumar (22), who runs a shop in Harnaut. The majority of voters here believe Nalanda got its due because of Nitish. “Even though JD(U) workers have not come to this village to campaign, nor too many people went to the recent public meeting of CM, but people will still vote for him. No one else will win from Nalanda, but he will win only in the name of Nitish ji,” said Manoj Sinha, a farmer from Nandbigha village. While Koeri and Kurmi will be united in voting for JD(U), Paswans, EBCs and Mahadalits (including Paswans) will also be in favour of JD(U) owing to the NDA alliance,” he added.
As per rough estimates, the electorate in Nalanda parliamentary constituency is dominated by Kurmi (around 25 per cent) and EBCs (25 per cent), followed by Yadavs (20 per cent), Muslims (8 per cent), Kushwaha (10 per cent) and upper caste (9 per cent).
Mahagathbandhan candidate Azad, however, claimed he has the social equation in his favour. “I acknowledge that Kurmis form the highest proportion of voters here, but the number of EBC voters is higher. EBCs along with SCs, Dalits, minorities and Yadavs among several sections of voters are with us. Nitish has neglected them. He did development work only for his community (Kurmis),” Azad said. He took a dig at Sushan Babu image of Nitish saying, the claims of development is “hollow”.
Meanwhile, Kaushlendra seemed confident of his victory. “I am assured of my victory as this time we are part of the NDA. I’m sure this time I will be winning by over 4 lakh votes as I have the names of both Nitish and Modi with me,” he told TOI. However, Brand Nitish may have taken a hit because of the CM’s alliance-hopping. “These people don’t have any fixed preference and sway according to trend,” said Umesh Ram, a resident of Majhi Tola in Nitish’s ancestral village of Kalyan Bigha.