In Bihar, Lalu's sons Tejashwi & Tej Pratap in poll fray for phase 2; face tough challenge

Polling in 71 seats in the first phase of Bihar assembly elections has been completed on October 28, with voter turnout at 54.26 percent and every party claiming that they had an edge. Now, in the second phase, 94 assembly seats will be polling and 1510 candidates are in the fray. Among other things, what is significant in the second phase is that both the Yadav brothers - Tejashwi and Tej Pratap will seek reelection.

In a first in 40 years, former CM and RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav has not campaigned for Bihar assembly elections. However, his younger son and former Depuy CM Tejashwi Yadav is the CM face of Mahagathbandhan. While Tejashwi is contesting for his current seat of Raghopur, Tej Pratap has changed his seat from Mahua and is contesting from Hasanpur. The NDA has attacked the RJD and particularly the Lalu family for corruption, scams and nepotism, while Tejashwi has claimed that NDA government has done no development in Bihar in the last 15 years. Here's a look at what is at stake for the Yadav scion. 

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Will Raghopur re-elect Tejashwi?

Tejashwi Yadav is contesting from Raghopur assembly segment in Vaishali district  - which is a part of the Hajipur Lok Sabha seat. The 31-year-old Tejashwi, had made an electoral debut from Raghopur in 2015. He won the election and went on to become the deputy to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, whom he would call “chacha” (uncle) then., but in the 2020 elections, he has claimed Nitish to be a scamster and opportunist and is challenging him for the top post. 

Tejashwi's main rival is BJP's Satish Kumar, who had defeated Rabri Devi in 2010 state election. Kumar, however, had lost to Tejashwi in 2015, when Nitish was part of Mahagathbandhan and BJP had gone solo. The Chirag Paswan-headed Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) has fielded Rakesh Roshan to make the contest triangular. Tejashwi and Satish Kumar are among 12 candidates in the fray from Raghopur seat.

Though the seat is Yadav-dominated,  and Lalu Yadav had won in 1995, 2000, and his wife Rabri Devi in 2005, Tejashwi has not been able to campaign on a daily basis in the constituency, while his opponent is canvassing for votes daily.  LJP's Rakesh Roshan is also active, but the BJP nominee has claimed that he is not getting the support of even Paswans, traditionally an LJP support base. As per census data, 1.30 lakh Yadavs form the bulk of the voters, the constituency has a significant presence of upper-caste Rajputs, whose electorate size is estimated at around 40,000 followed by Muslims at 22,000 and Paswans at 18,000.

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Will shifting to Hasanpur help Tej Pratap?

Tej Pratap Yadav who won the 2015 state elections from Mahua has shifted to "safe" seat of Hasanpur assembly segment, after rumours that his estranged wife Aishwariya Rai would contest from there, after his father-in-law Chandrika Rai quit RJD and joined JDU. Even if now it is clear that they are not contesting from Mahua, Tej Pratap's shift is crucial as Mahua is located near the Parsa assembly segment, a bastion of his wife Aishwarya Rai's father Chandrika Roy's family.

In Hasanpur, Tej Pratap is pitted against a formidable sitting legislator from JD(U) Raj Kumar Rai, who is holding the seat since 2010. Hasanpur seat - Yadav dominated - is located in the Samastipur district of Bihar but comes under the Khagaria Lok Sabha constituency from where LJP's Choudhary Mehboob Ali Kaiser is the second consecutive term MP. However, Chirag Paswan has not fielded any candidate on the seat which sources have said is to help Tej Partap. There are a total of eight candidates vying for the seat.

Tej Pratap is camping in the constituency since filing of nomination on October 13. Sources on the ground say that Tej Pratap has held rallies including door-to-door campaigns and is seen playing cricket, riding a tractor in a field, playing a flute and eating 'litti-Chokha' with the people - pictures of these events are also shared on his Twitter profile. Yadavs constitute nearly 65,000 of the total voters, while the Muslim electorate numbers 25,000. Forward castes' count is around 20,000 while Paswans' strength is around 18,000, Kushwahas (16,000) and Extremely Backward Castes (13,000) are said to constitute the reamining.

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Bihar assembly elections 2020

Incumbent Nitish Kumar is seeking reelection and is the CM face for the NDA. Mahagathbandhan has chosen Tejashwi Yadav as their CM face. The BJP is contesting on a seat-sharing formula of 121-122 seats with the JDU and Mukesh Sahni of Vikasheel Insaan party and Jitan Ram Manjhi of HAM(S), while LJP will contest solo. Mahagathbandhan comprising of Congress and three left parties have are contesting on seat-sharing formula of 144-70-29 seats respectively. 

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