Shadow candidate but seat basks in Nitish sun

While Nitish has not been able to crack the Muslim-Yadav MY equation which helps the RJD and LJP across the state the constituency has over four lakh Kurmi voters,Nitishs support base.

Good roads and improved law and order condition have helped,but Nitish cant be confident of slicing a share of the 1.5 lakh Muslim votes and 3 lakh Yadav votes in Nalanda.

Several senior JDU leaders were vying for the Nalanda ticket. Nitish put the matter at rest by picking a lesser-known party worker,Kaushlendra Prasad.

While the move was sold as a nice precedent,Nitish of course now has a man in Nalanda who would vacate the seat when asked to. If Nitish hopes to be a key player in Central politics,Kaushlendra can keep the seat safe for his senior, said the sources.

However,voters are not as eager to go along with Nitish. Says Jagdish Prasad of Attarsarai near Islampur: Though we are JDU voters,we would have been happier with an experienced candidate.

Kaushalendra has never won a single election,not even at the panchayat level.

S L Mishra,another Islampur resident,notes that Kaushlendra was seen as someone who used to carry Fernandess bags. It is an irony that Fernandes was denied ticket and Kaushlendra got it, he says.

Mishra adds that there would have been nothing wrong in giving the Nalanda ticket to Fernandes as a tribute to his long service. By doing so,Nitish would have only risen in stature, he adds.

However,for others,Nitishs hand on Kaushlendra is enough. People do not want to lose out on a leader who has risen to become a national leader from a leader of kurmis. Ashok Kumar Keshri,a resident of Ekangarsarai,says: We are voting for Nitish Kumar. Arrow means Nitish to us.

Meanwhile,the LJPs Satish Kumar too has some backers,like Bhagwan Singh Yadav who call him a better candidate than Kaushlendra.

Rakun Prasad of Agunbigha says they are happy with the development work but they see a good candidate in Satish than in Nitishs yes-man Kaushlendra.

Nalanda has 17 lakh voters from seven Assembly segments Islampur,Asthawa,Rajgir,Nalanda,Hilsa,Biharsharif and Harnaut. Six of these Assembly segments are represented by the JDU and one by the BJP.

During Nitishs rallies at Islampur and Gosawa,people gather in huge numbers,despite the scorching heat. Taking a dig at Lalu,Nitish says: Lalu says if he loses,there will be disaster. But he should not worry because I am a disaster management expert after Kosi floods.