In fifth phase of Lok Sabha polls, Muzaffarpur has tightened its seat belt for electoral test on 6th May through voting. As environment temperature has risen, political heat on Muzaffarpur seat is also on rise as there is clash between Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and new entrant in Bihar’s politics Vikasheel Insaan Party (VIP) floated by Son of Mallah, Mukesh Sahni.
In economic capital of North Bihar, BJP’s Ajay Nishad, son of former Muzaffarpur MP Jay Narayan Nishad is competing against Dr. Raj Bhushan Choudhary Nishad of VIP who is a medical doctor by training.
Muzaffarpur seat comprises six state assembly seats namely- Gaighat, Aurai, Bochahan, Sakra, Kurhani and Muzaffarpur out of which three (Gaighat, Aurai and Sakra) have RJD legislators and three (Bochahan, Muzaffarpur and Kurhani) are in control of BJP.
Muzaffarpur, a hot bed of stalwarts– After independence, as Congress bastion, Muzaffarpur became the breakthrough seat for G.B.Kriplani’s Prajatantrik Socialist Party but failed to flourish thoroughly.
It is one such place in Bihar which accommodated two outsiders in its political framework who enjoyed support of people for long. One was Congress’s A.R.Mehta and second was George Fernandes.
A traditional seat of former Union minister George Fernandes, he got elected from here five times. Fernandes won the seat two times on Janata Party ticket, twice on Janata Dal ticket and once on JDU ticket but in 2009 the scenario altered and was denied ticket. Instead of him, Nitish Kumar opted for Captain Jay Narayan Nishad.
Apart from George Fernandes, Jay Narayan Nishad also rose up to ranks of popularity in Muzaffarpur. In 1993, Nishad held a rally in Sikanderpur, along with Phoolan Devi, a Mallah by caste. Over 2 lakh Mallahs attended the rally, turning Nishad into a heavyweight leader for the community. The polarised vote of the Mallahs was the reason behind Nishad’s uninterrupted wins from Muzaffarpur.
The Nishad Factor
This time his Jay Narayan Nishad’s son, Ajay Nishad as BJP candidate is going to face his second electoral test after 2014’s victory over Akhilesh Prasad Singh of the Congress with a huge margin of 2,22,422. Ajay Nishad has legacy of hopping political fence too. Earlier with the RJD, he contested assembly election from Kurhani and Sahebganj but had to face defeat.
During seat sharing of Mahagathbandhan, the analysts and political pundits were taken aback when three seats were given to a little-known and recently floated Vikas Sheel Insaan Party (VIP) for the coming Lok Sabha election. This move of RJD was Mandal II card which aims at cementing the OBC-EBC-Muslim equation.
The constituency has around more than 3 EBCs, 3 lakh Mallahs, 3.5 lakh Bhumihars, 1.75 lakh Yadav, 2 lakh each of Muslim and Vaishya.
The Nishad community is numerically strong which approximately accounts for 14% of state’s population. They are engaged in their traditional business of boat-ferrying, boat-making or fishing. Under Mahagathbandhan’s banner, Mukesh Sahani was handed over the Muzaffarpur seat to make a dent in power politics of BJP on which Ajay Nishad stands.
Arithmetically, Dr. Raj Bhushan Choudhary’s candidature has proven to be thorn in Ajay Nishad’s path of success as BJP’s traditional Mallah vote bank will certainly get hurt and in addition to it OBC-EBC-Muslim combination of Mahagathbandhan has certainly posed a tough challenge to the NDA.
Caste arithmetic on this seat is no less than a headache for the BJP and seems to be taken seriously by the Prime Minister himself which reflected in public meeting speech held at Muzaffarpur where he said- A separate ministry will be dedicated to Nishad community.
In addition to this, a section of upper caste and Nishad community are annoyed with Ajay Nishad’s performance as MP.
Concerns in Muzaffarpur
Unavailability of drinking water is the biggest crisis, for residents of Muzaffarpur city.
Promise of “Muzaffarpur Smart City” by Modi government remains hollow claim after four years. In terms of pollution, city has shown dangerous trend and was counted among nation’s most polluted city. City’s Patahi airport remains inactive since decades and only becomes a poll promise before every election.
Unemployment is also big concern. Muzaffarpur district is home to production of best quality ‘Litchi’ (a summer fruit) and ‘Lehthi’(wooden bangle) which possess potential to become a small scale industry.
The headline making crime- Muzaffarpur shelter home case has failed to garner space as an election issue this time among voters.
Keeping arithmetic and issues apart, the battle for Muzaffarpur Lok Sabha seat is all about determining the “Mallah leadership” in state of Bihar.
