The newest entrant in Bihar’s political landscape, Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraaj Party (JSP), on Wednesday announced Lt General (Retd) Krishna Singh as its first-ever candidate. Singh will be contesting the upcoming Tarari Assembly seat bypoll. Kishor and JSP working president Manoj Bharti said the three other nominees would be announced soon. “Singh is only the second vice-chief of the Army from Bihar. It is a matter of pride for us that he is our candidate from Tarari, which we are looking to win and free from the land mafia,” the JSP founder said. Hailing from Karath village and residing in Noida post his retirement, Singh recently joined the JSP and claims he was drawn towards it due to the party's "fresh ideas". The Tarari seat, which was vacated by sitting CPI(ML)L MLA Sudama Prasad, after he was elected to the Lok Sabha from Arrah, is one of the four Bihar Assembly seats along with Ramgarh, Belaganj and Imamganj which will see bypolls on November 13. Since its inception post the 2008 delimitation, the Tarari seat has been a CPI(ML)L stronghold, with Prasad winning the 2015 and 2020 polls from here. Singh had an illustrious career in the Army, winning the Param Vishisht Seva Medal (PVSM), Ati Vishisht Seva Medal (AVSM) and Uttam Yudh Seva Medal (UYSM). The 70-year-old veteran also served as a member of the Armed Forces Tribunal in Delhi between 2014 and 2017, commanded the Siachen Brigade during Operation Parakram and Operation Meghdoot, the Kupwara division during Operation Rakshak and the Corps in Ladakh during the 2009-2010 cloud bursts. While Kishor has started his political journey with a bang with the high-profile Singh, his party’s challenge remains the caste-ridden politics of the state. “Singh is an upper-caste Rajput and would definitely create a buzz among voters. But beyond the rhetoric of the JSP, the Tarari battle could boil down to the tested social arithmetic, which may not favour him. However, Singh’s entry adds a patriotic fervour to the contest,” Arrah-based political observer Ashutosh Kumar Pandey said. While an upper caste leader, Sunil Pandey alias Narendra Kumar Pandey, who is a Bhumihar, did represent Tarari between 2010 and 2015, the combined voter base of the CPI(ML)L and RJD played a role in that.
