PATNA: The diminishing popularity of Bihar Chief Minister and Janata Dal (United) president Nitish Kumar, coupled with the entry of a rebel Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) candidate in the Jhanjharpur Lok Sabha constituency, has intensified the poll battle in Bihar’s Jhanjharpur Lok Sabha constituency.
Along with Supaul, Araria, Madhepura and Khagaria, Jhanjharpur will go to the polls in the third phase on May 7.
Jhanjharpur in Madhubani district is considered a stronghold of NDA as five of its six assembly segments are represented by BJP and JD(U) and only one by RJD.
This time, Jhanjharpur is set to witness a triangular fight with the entry of rebel RJD candidate Gulab Yadav, who is contesting on the BSP ticket. Yadav, known for his muscle power in the region, had unsuccessfully contested the 2019 Lok Sabha elections on the ticket of RJD.
Once considered the stronghold of Janata Dal and RJD after the decline of Congress, Jhanjharpur has been represented in the past by Shyamnandan Mishra, Dr Jagannath Mishra, Bhogendra Jha, Dhanik Lal Mandal and Gaurishankar Rajhans, besides Devendra Prasad Yadav, who won five times from this seat on RJD and JD(U) tickets.
Though the majority of the winners were Mandals and Yadavs, one of its assembly segments—Phulparas—had sent Jan Nayak Karpoori Thakur to the Bihar assembly in the crucial by-election after he became chief minister in 1977 for the second time.
The socialist icon, the late Karpoori Thakur, was recently conferred on ‘Bharat Ratna’ by the NDA government. This time, sitting JD(U) MP Ramprit Mandal is pitted against Suman Kumar Mahaseth of Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP). Gulab Yadav, who Mandal defeated in 2019 election is contesting as BSP candidate, making the fight triangular. Suman (59), a turncoat who comes from an RSS background, belongs to the Surhi caste, a sub-caste of the Vaishya community, who are mainly supporters of NDA. His main rival, Mandal, is a Dhanuk. Gulab with RJD background, may prove a headache for Mahaseth.
Suman is the most educated among the three leading contenders in the fray. He has a BA and LLB degree, while Mandal (68) is a 10th pass and started his political journey from the grassroots level. He had secured 58% of the votes polled to defeat Gulab by over 3.2 lakh votes in 2019. Overall voter turnout in the 2019 Lok Sabha election stood at 57.35%.
The constituency is still struggling with the menace of unemployment and migration. Perennial floods caused by Kamla Balan during rainy seasons have added woes to the people of the constituency. “Kamla Balan river is a bane for the residents here,” said Bipin Mandal, a resident of Jhanjharpur town.With over 18 lakh voters, the seat comprises six assembly segments—Phulparas, Khajauli, Jhanjharpur, Laukaha, Babubarhi and Rajnagar.
Flood, migration and lack of development are the main issues of the constituency, which has almost 20% Yadavs, followed by 15% Brahmins and 35% Extremely Backward Classes. Muslims also have 15% of the votes in this constituency, while the Vaisya community shares almost equal votes.
Vaishyas play a crucial role in the victory of any candidate in the constituency. Ranjan Kumar, a resident of Laukaha, said that the biggest issue in this election is unemployment. “Jo rozgar dega hum usi ko vote dengue (those who will provide jobs, we will vote for them),” he said while showing his displeasure over the lack of development in the constituency.
However, Mohan Kumar Mahaseth, a confidante of the VIP candidate, claimed that Gulab’s presence wouldn’t impact the electoral prospects of grand alliance candidates,” he asserted. On the other hand, Ratneshwar Mandal, a BA student, claimed that sitting MP Mandal would retain the seat. “It’s just a matter of margin of victory. The margin will be higher this time as Gulab Yadav is in the fray as a BSP candidate,” he added. He claimed that there are 60% EBC and Backward Classes votes besides 3.25 lakh Brahmins, 2.5 lakh Yadavs, 2 lakh Kurmi/Mandal, one lakh Kewat (fishermen) and 1.25% Vaishya voters in Jhanjharpur.
VIP candidate Suman’s anti-incumbency would benefit him. “People are angry with the sitting MP, and I enjoy the support of all sections of society,” he added. However, Raman Kumar, a social worker, said anti-incumbency and Gulab Yadav were the two main hurdles in MP Mandal’s second straight victory.