Bihar assembly polls: A lot at stake for Left in Begusarai

BEGUSARAI: Altogether 104 candidates are in the fray in seven constituencies in Begusarai district. Begusarai had earned the epithet of ‘Leningrad of the east’ as Left parties, mainly the CPI, used to dominate the political arena in the district for over four decades. However, after the advent of the social justice era in the state, the dominance of Left parties receded gradually.
With the Left parties under the Grand Alliance umbrella this time and contesting four of the seven seats, they are hoping to regain the lost turf.
MATIHANI: The seat is dominated by Bhumihar voters. Though the CPM has fielded Rajendra Prasad Singh, LJP’s Raj Kumar Singh has taken the contest by storm. JD(U)’s Narendra Kumar Singh is the sitting MLA.
The seat was considered to be safe for the four-time JD(U) MLA Bogo Singh until Raj Kumar Singh, a debutant, entered the fray. Raj Kumar, who did his graduation from Delhi University in 1990, has a clean image with no criminal record.
BEGUSARAI: Congress’s Amita Bhushan is the sitting MLA from this crucial seat. Amita is president of the state women wing of the party also. She is locked in a direct fight with BJP’s Kundan Kumar, a debutant. Amita enjoys a good image for being constantly in touch with voters and easily accessible. Kundan pins his hope on the massive development works carried out by the NDA government under PM Narendra Modi. Kundan is considered close to Begusarai MP Giriraj Singh.
TEGHRA: Birendra Kumar Singh had won the last election from this seat on an RJD ticket. However, he is the JD(U) candidate this time. The contest here is expected to be triangular with Ram Ratan Singh of CPI and Lallan Kunwar of LJP being the other two prominent candidates. Lallan Kunwar is a BJP rebel who jumped into the fray as a LJP nominee after the seat went to JD(U) as part of NDA’s seat-sharing arrangement.