With the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) issuing symbols for the candidates for the second phase of the Bihar assembly polls, all eyes are on two electoral districts, Raghopur and Hasanpur, from where they imprisoned the sons of the head of the RJD Lalu Prasad, the leader of the opposition Tejaswhi Prasad Yadav and his older brother Tej Pratap Yadav will compete.
Reliable sources said that Tejashwi will present his nomination papers from the Raghopur assembly seat on October 14, while Tej Pratap Yadav will present his papers from the Hassanpur seat on October 13.
“Tejashwi will present its documents on October 14 and will also address a public meeting in its constituency, as scheduled so far,” said a senior RJD leader, wishing not to be subpoenaed.
This time, Tej Pratap, a sitting MLA of the Mahua assembly seat in Vaisali district, has changed his constituency to the Hasanpur assembly seat in Samastipur district likely to ensure a sure victory, as the constituency is considered a stronghold of RJD with a considerable number of Muslim and Yadav voters.
Sources said that the RJD has given Dr. Mukesh Roshan a ticket from the Mahua seat this time. The party has not yet released the official list of candidates for the second phase. Sources said the RJD is contesting 64 seats from 94 electoral districts that will go to the polls on November 3.
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The contest in Raghopur will be very close between Tejashwi and BJP nominee Satish Kumar, who had been beaten by Yadav’s 30-year-old scion in the 2015 assembly polls. Satish, however, rose to fame in the 2010 assembly elections when he defeated former chief minister Rabri Devi by a margin of 13,006 votes.
RJD insiders said the opposition leader has a lot at stake in the poll given that Yadav’s scion is the face of the Grand Alliance (GA) and his party’s top ministerial candidate.
The departure of senior RJD leaders in the constituency, such as former Minister Uday Narayan Rai aka Bhola Rai, and a large number of junior RJD leaders at the bloc level a month ago to join the ruling Janata Dal (United) has caused problems. to the RJD. . Rai is considered a grassroots leader with good control among the political workers and the organizational structure in the Raghopur constituency.
Sources said the JD (U) was looking at the seat to present their own candidate, but went to the BJP. The JD (U) is contesting four seats in the Vaisali district.
“The contest is tough this time in Raghopur for Tejashwi as the BJP and JD (U) are fighting together again this time. The traditional voting base of the RJD, especially Yadav’s votes, will be crucial and any split in the central voting base could spell trouble for the party, ”said a senior RJD leader.
The BJP candidate, Satish Kumar, also a member of the Yadav caste, also relies on caste votes, in addition to those of the EBC, minorities and upper castes.
On the other hand, the contest at the Hasanpur assembly venue would also be interesting to watch, as Tej Pratap faces Janata Dal (United) seated at MLA Raj Kumar Ray. Ray had won the seat in the 2015 election by a margin of 29,600 votes by defeating his closest rival Binod Choudhary of BLSP.
Tej Pratap had indicated his plans to compete from Hasanpur headquarters in Samastipur district by holding a tour of the district last month. RJD leaders admit that the poll result of the two seats, Raghopur and Hasanpur, is important to the party, as the loss of any of Yadav’s scions would cause embarrassment to the jailed RJD chief and raise a question mark. on the control of the party among its main voters.
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