PATNA: Superficially, the Jamui (reserved) parliamentary constituency would see the electoral battle between Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) sitting MP Chirag Paswan and former local MP Bhudeo Choudhary of Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP).LJP chief Ram Vilas Paswan has said the people of Jamui would not be voting for Chirag as MP but as a prospective Union minister.Bhudeo has active support of RJD, Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) and Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP). Other Grand Alliance partners, HAM(S) led by former CM Jitan Ram Manjhi and VIP of Mukesh Sahni, have the potential to rally round the dalit and extremely backward caste (EBC) votes, respectively. The BJP’s denial of ticket to Putul Kumari Singh in neighbouring Banka and giving the seat to NDA partner JD(U) might adversely impact the support of Rajputs to Chirag.Itself scarred by Left-extremist activities, Jamui would go to the polls in the first phase on April 11, along with three other Maoist-hit constituencies — Nawada, Gaya (reserved) and Aurangabad.Jamui had parliamentary elections in 1952, 1962, 1967 and 1971. Due to the delimitation of constituencies, it vanished from the map — like in 1957 — for three decades from 1977 and then emerged again in 2009 after the 2008 delimitation. Indeed, Jamui has emerged to be among the few most watched constituencies in the state.Chirag, who at one time had tested his luck in the Bollywood, is backed by none other than PM Narendra Modi, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar and senior Paswan himself, better known as ‘mausam vaigyanik’, the epithet coined for him by RJD chief Lalu Prasad. Bhudeo, on the other hand, has the support of no less a combative Grand Alliance camp comprising RJD chief Lalu Prasad, his son and the party’s second-in-command Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, Congress and RLSP chief Upendra Kushwaha.Ironically, leaders in each of the two camps are foes-turned-friends. During the 2009 election, Nitish was with BJP stalwarts like L K Advani, while PM Modi was not even on the BJP’s horizon. Five years later, PM Modi, Ram Vilas and Kushwaha were in the same NDA camp, while Nitish, having walked out of the NDA in June 2013, had decided to go virtually solo with his JD(U). Lalu and Congress were together. Nitish joined the NDA again in July 2017, while Kushwaha walked out of it in December last year.The last two elections have thrown up familiar results. In 2009, Nitish’s nominee and NDA candidate Bhudeo trounced Lalu’s man and former minister Shyam Rajak. However, in 2014, Chirag, riding the ‘NaMo wave’, defeated Lalu’s nominee Sudhanshu Shekhar Choudhary, besides pushing Nitish’s nominee and former state assembly Speaker Uday Narayan Choudhary to the third position. In 2019, a blockbuster of an electoral battle is in the offing between two bigger coalitions compared to the last two battles.

Stay updated with all the Latest Patna headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.