The Bharatiya Janata Party is eying major gain in East Champaran and West Champaran in view of the caste equation in the region and rebellion in Janta Dal United (JDU). Several dissidents of JDU are in fray, giving an advantage to saffron party.
In the last elections, the BJP-JDU alliance had bagged 19 seats out for 21. But this time around, both the parties are fighting against each other.
The JDU was forced to drop its three sitting MLAs due to grand alliance with the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Congress. Rajesh Singh from Valmiki Nagar, Prabhat Ranjan from Bagaha and Manorma Prasad from Nautan have turned rebels after denial of tickets. Rajesh Singh is in fray on a ticket from the Samajwadi Party.
The BJP has also denied tickets to two sitting MLAs, Chandramohan Rai from Chanpatiya and Rashmi Verma from Narkatiya. Though Chandramohan Rai had resigned from the party, he is not campaigning against BJP, but Rashmi Verma is contesting as an Independent candidate. Congress dissident Fakhruddin is also contesting from this seat.
However, the direct fight is in Narkatiya between RJD’s Shamim Ahmad and NDA ally Rashtriya Lok Samata Party’s Sant Singh Kushwaha. It is believed that minority voters decide the fate of the candidate from this seat. Due to this factor, RJD candidate is looking strong in this constituency.
News18 visited several constituencies of East and West Champaran in a bid to know the public sentiment.
The first halt was Peepra assembly seat, which came to light after JDU candidate Avdhesh Kushwaha was caught taking bribe during a sting operation. Later, JDU replaced Avdhesh Kushwaha with Krishnachandra Kushwaha. BJP’s Shyam Babu Prasad is contesting from this seat which is a stronghold of Yadavs, though there is a division of votes. One Jagdish Yadav from Manjhola village says, “The intellectual Yadav voters are voting for BJP. Bhagnarayan Yadav is also in the fray on Samajwadi Party ticket. Hence, he will also get some votes from Yadavs. BJP can win this seat due to division of Yadav votes.”
On Motihari seat, the fight is between RJD’s Vinod Srivastava and BJP’s Pramod Kumar. Vinod Srivastava, who had faced a humiliating defeat in the Lok Sabha elections, told News18, “In the last 18 months, there are major changes in the atmosphere. The Modi wave has now drained. He didn’t fulfill even single promise he made in election. People are angry. We are fighting for the downtrodden and will definitely win this time.”
Some people attending his rally at the school said that they had gathered there to see actor Nagma, not Vinod Srivastava. Only few think that the BJP has a good chance from this seat.
Equations in West Champaran
On Ramnagar seat, BJP’s Bhagirathi Devi is in contest against Puranmasi Ram of Congress. The forward class voters play the deciding role on this seat, and the air is blowing in the favour of the BJP. From Bagaha, BJP has fielded bureaucrat RS Pandey while JDU has given ticket to Bhishma Sahini, denying ticket to sitting MLA Prabhat Ranjan.
The sitting independent MLA from Lauriya is now contesting on BJP ticket while the RJD has fielded Rankaushal Singh from this seat. But once again Mahgathbandhan is facing infighting in this constituency. Rebel RJD leader Shambu Tiwari has pushed Mahagathbandhan on backfoot.
On Chanpatiya assembly seat, the fight is between outsider vs local. Three-time sitting MLA Renu Devi is facing stiff fight from Madan Mohan Tiwari of Congress on Betiah seat. Four-time BJP MLA Dileep Verma is in fray against former MLA Khurshid Alam from Sikta constituency.
In Raxaul, there is a division of Vaishya votes as Rebel JDU MLA Shayam Bihari Prasad is also fighting. BJP and Congress have fielded Brajesh Pandey and Raju Tiwari respectively from Govindganj. On this seat, Bhumihar voters are the deciders and that gives the BJP a hope of winning this seat easily.
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