In Bihar's Begusarai, trailer is aleady a thriller

With former JNU students' union president Kanhaiya Kumar entering the fray against BJP's firebrand leader Giriraj Singh, Begusarai has become one of the hottest seats to watch in Bihar in this year's Lok Sabha elections. The RJD is said to have already made up its mind to field Tanvir Hassan thus turning the contest into a triangular fight.

Singh, an MP from Nawada, has expressed reservations about contesting from the seat, which he wanted in 2014. Ever since the announcement of the candidates by the NDA on March 23, Singh is neither interacting with the media nor making any public statement about his candidacy, while his party colleagues profusely thanked the top brass for its choice.

A BJP source said Singh, who was prepared to contest from Nawada, was upset as he was the only minister to have his constituency shifted.

Giriraj told the media, "He has no problems with central leadership but he is unhappy with state leadership (over constituency)." He said he will contest only with his self-esteem.

"Swabhiman ke saath samjhauta karke Kabhi nahi," he said.

However, sources said, Singh is still lobbying hard not to fight from Begusarai. The seat was left vacant after the demise of BJP's Bhola Singh, who had won by over 55,000 votes defeating Rashtriya Janata Dal's Tanvir Hassan, who had polled over 3.69 lakh votes. The CPI's Rajendra Singh was at a distant third with nearly 1.92 lakh.

The CPI has now put its bets on the son of the soil Kanhaiya Kumar, who claims to have been "touring in his constituency, while other leaders were doing Delhi-Patna for the last few months". Addressing the media in Patna on Sunday, Kumar called Singh the "Visa minister of Pakistan for sending his critics there".

Kumar said, "Don't you think the people of Begusarai will notice Singh's reluctance to represent them in Lok Sabha? My fight is against Singh's fanatic thought process and the divisive forces to protect our country and its Constitution. I never felt Singh was an Indian minister. I thought he was the Visa minister of Pakistan because he kept sending everyone there."

Kumar also clarified that he was not in the contest against Hassan. CPI sources said the party had sought the Mahagathbandhan's support on just one seat and RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav had initially agreed to it, but his son and Leader of the Opposition Tejashwi Prasad Yadav was not keen on Kumar's candidature.

In 2014, the BJP-combine had polled around 39 per cent votes, while RJD's vote share stood at 34 per cent and CPI around 17 per cent in Begusarai. "Given the stats, our candidate would have been in a solid position this time," a Communist leader said, "Even now, we hope that RJD will see some sense and support our nominee, though we are not banking on it."

RJD's Hassan told reporters that Kumar was the BJP's B-team and will only split anti-BJP votes. Only Mahagathbandhan could defeat the BJP, he said.

There are 19.42 lakh voters in Begusarai, constituting a sprinkle of all religions and castes. "Both Singh and Kumar hail from Bhumihar community, which has some presence in Begusarai town, but others such as Koeris and Yadavs also have a sizeable population there and it will be interesting to see how the caste math adds up," said a senior journalist in Bihar.

However, nothing can be said till the last as there is pressure on RJD to withdraw its candidate so that votes do not get split and Kumar can give a tough fight to Singh.