This Bihar Seat Is Set For 4-Cornered Fight. Reason: Tussle Between Allies

As Bihar gears up for the second phase of a high-voltage Assembly election, political forces on both sides of the aisle are putting up a show of unity. But in some seats, the complex arithmetic of coalition politics and the internal tussle for dominance is on display. One such constituency is the Kahalgaon Assembly seat in Bhagalpur district, which is set to witness a four-cornered fight. Allies have turned rivals, and a rebel has challenged his former party for denying him a ticket in this eastern Bihar seat.

Kahalgaon is home to the NTPC power plant, and the road to the constituency is frequented by trucks to and from the plant, leading to persistent traffic jams. The area is also close to Vikramshila, home to a Buddhist monastic complex during the Pala dynasty's rule in the eighth and ninth centuries.

The JDU's candidate in Kahalgaon is Shubhanand Mukesh, the son of former Bihar Assembly Speaker late Sadanand Singh, who won the seat for Congress a record nine times. Shubhanand Mukesh is an engineer, and his wife is a doctor. In the 2020 election, he contested on a Congress ticket and lost to the BJP's Pawan Kumar Yadav. This year, he has switched to the JDU. Shubhanand, it is learnt, has been mentored for the big fight by none other than Bihar Chief Minister and JDU chief Nitish Kumar, and the party is going all out to ensure his victory. "Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has groomed me and I have my father's legacy too," he said.

But BJP's decision to vacate the Kahalgaon seat for JDU as part of seat-sharing arrangements led to collateral damage -- sitting MLA Pawan Kumar Yadav lost a shot at the seat he won last time. He has now turned rebel and is contesting as an Independent. Confident of repeating a victory, he said, "People will vote for me based on my performance as an MLA over the past five years."

While the BJP and JDU reached a consensus on Kahalgaon, the opposition RJD and Congress could not. This has led to a 'friendly fight' situation in which the allies have fielded candidates against each other. The Congress has chosen Praveen Kushwaha, and the RJD has picked Rajnish Yadav. Rajnish, whose father Sanjay Yadav is a minister in the Jharkhand government, insists he is the Mahagathbandhan candidate in Kahalgaon. Stressing that the Congress candidate won't draw many votes, Rajnish said, "If the votes were divided, so many people would not attend my rallies. There is no crowd at his (Kushwaha) rallies."

The Congress candidate, however, is not giving up without a fight. The Congress, it is learnt, did not give up the Kahalgaon seat despite RJD's push during seat-sharing talks. Kushwaha attributed this to "one man's ambition".

As for the voters, they say the biggest issue in this election is unemployment. "Bihar's education is in a dismal state. And only an educated person can bring education. We don't want to talk about specific leaders and parties. But those talking about education will be elected," a youngster said.