Patna: Tejashwi Yadav, the younger son of RJD chief Lalu Prasad, is trying hard to mobilize support for the grand alliance to make it easier for him to become chief minister. He is rallying from one region to another in election campaign every day and seeking votes for other candidates of the grand alliance. But his own seat Raghopur is seen coming out of hand. The seat is a triangular contest with BJP leader Satish Kumar and LJP’s Rakesh Roshan in the fray.
Please tell that Raghopur assembly constituency is a part of Hajipur Lok Sabha seat and it comes in Vaishali district. The second phase of polling in this constituency is to be held on November 3. Tejashwi Yadav contested this seat in 2015 as well and won by becoming Deputy Chief Minister in Nitish Kumar’s government. At that time, Tejashwi used to address Nitish Kumar as ‘uncle’, but his alliance with Nitish’s party broke in 2017 and now Tejashwi is challenging his ‘uncle’ for the post of Chief Minister.
However, the Grand Alliance has declared Tejashwi as its candidate for the post of Chief Minister, but actually being able to sit on the Chief Minister’s chair after becoming the Chief Ministerial candidate will depend on whether Tejashwi wins the election from his seat. The RJD, Congress and the Left are part of the grand alliance. The Raghopur seat is a Yadav dominated area, mostly occupied by Lalu Prasad and his family.
Although BJP’s Satish Kumar defeated Rabri Devi in the 2010 assembly elections, he lost in 2015 to Tejashwi. At that time, Tejashwi was a candidate from the RJD, JD (U) and the Congress alliance, while the BJP entered the poll fray alone.
But this time the equations have changed. The JD (U) has the support of the BJP and the RJD has formed an alliance with the Congress and the Left parties. This time 12 candidates are trying their luck in the election field from Raghopur seat. Chirag Paswan-led Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) has fielded Rakesh Roshan from this seat to make the contest triangular.
According to the ground report, the LJP candidate is not in a position to win but he is making a dent in the BJP’s upper caste Rajput vote and it could help Tejashwi take the lead. There are 3,36,613 voters in the Raghopur Assembly constituency according to the 2019 electorate, of which more than 1.30 lakh voters are Yadavs. Apart from this, there are 40,000 Rajputs, 22,000 Muslims and 18,000 Paswan in this region.
Now let us see which side the camel sits. Will RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav save his seat or will Satish Kumar regain his lost reputation? Well, after voting on the 3rd, it will be known whose weight is heavier. But it is certain that the competition on this seat is going to be very tough.
Also read in Hindi: यादवों के गढ़ में क्या तेजस्वी बचा पायेंगे अपना ताज, जानें राघोपुर का मिजाज…