The speakers vs the Paswans

In Jamui, where Ramvilas Paswan’s son Chirag is the LJP-BJP candidate, the JD(U) has fielded Assembly Speaker Uday Narayan Choudhary.  It is Chirag’s first election and in a seat that was last won by the JD(U)’s Bhudeo Choudhary. Neither Uday Narayan Choudhary (a resident of Gaya) nor Paswan (from Khagaria) belongs to the Naxal-dominated belt of Jamui. Uday Narayan Choudhary will be targeted by the RJD, which has fielded Sudhanshu Bhaskar, for his “non-partisan role in recognising 13 RJD MLAs as a breakaway group when the cutoff was 15, two-thirds of the party’s strength. The BJP has a support base in the seat, which has a sizeable upper caste and non-Yadav OBC population.

In Sasaram, Chhedi Paswan is looking at a section of the Mahdalit vote and a major chunk of the BJP’s support-base of 1.25 OBC Vaishya voters and 3.25 lakh upper-caste votes. Meira Kumar, who won by over 40,000 votes last time, is banking on the alliance with the RJD and the support of the 1.25 lakh Muslim-majority population. What may go against her is complaints that she is inaccessible. Ramaiah, still an unfamiliar face, is banking on Mahadalit votes.

Three Rajput candidates will be in battle in Maharajganj: sitting RJD MP Prabhunath Singh, JD (U)’s Manoranjan Singh and BJP’s Janardhan Singh Sigriwal.

For East Champaran, RJD chief Lalu Prasad Satuday announced his long-time aide and personal assistant Vinod Srivastava.