One of the most closely watched battles in India is Bihar's Begusarai where Kanhaiya Kumar, a former president of Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union (JNUSU), is challenging BJP's dominance in the Lok Sabha constituency. In Begusarai, where his party CPI has some base in the region, Kumar is engaged in a triangular battle with BJP's Giriraj Singh and RJD's Tanveer Hasan. 

An energetic campaign boosted by his image of being a trenchant critic of the Modi government has propelled Kanhaiya into the centre stage of electoral contest in Begusarai seat but many see his rising graph posing a bigger threat to the opposition RJD than the ruling BJP.

The BJP supporters in Begusarai assert that the appeal of Prime Minister Narendra Modi remains a big draw for voters, while the opposition's alliance is hoping to counter it with its social arithmetic at several places.

If the Modi factor is powering the BJP's campaign, the alliance of the Lalu Prasad's RJD, Upendra Kushwaha's RLSP and the Congress is betting on a formidable social equation in these seats to make the going difficult for the saffron party.

In the 2014 polls, BJP's Bhola Singh, who died in October last year, had defeated Lalu Prasad-led RJD's Tanveer Hasan, who is again in the fray, with a margin of 5.4 per cent votes (more than 58,000). The JD(U)-backed CPI had finished a distant third with near 93,000 votes. Singh had got over 4.29 lakh votes.

CPI has fielded Kumar, former JNU students union leader, this time, while BJP has brought in union minister Giriraj Singh, who had won from Nawada last time.

However, for most BJP leaders and supporters, Prime Minister Modi is the main draw and even Singh has said that it is Modi himself who is the NDA candidate on all seats in the state and the leaders fighting the elections are only his "symbols".

"Giriraj Singh will win. Our vote is for Modi. He has done a lot. 'Aur option kya hai Dilli mein' (What other option we have for the central government)," said Sanjay Kumar, who hails from an extremely backward community.

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar-led JD(U) is now a BJP ally, boosting the saffron party's prospects but the 32-year-old former JNU student union president Kumar is threatening the traditional social equations with his high-pitched electioneering. 

The fact that a number of public figures like actors Prakash Raj, Swara Bhaskar, Shabana Azami and lyricist Javed Akhtar, all vocal critics of the Modi government, have come to the town to campaign for him, has strengthened the perception that he poses a better challenge to the BJP than Hasan, a soft-spoken leader who many believe lacks Kumar's appeal and connect. 

Villagers in Bachhwara, where Yadavs -- the backbone of RJD's support -- hold sway, display open sympathy for Kanhaiya and many say they will vote for him while several others insist that they cannot help but support "our leader Lalu when he needs us the most".

"Kanhaiya takkar de sakta hai BJP ko (Kanhaiya can challenge the BJP)," Rambadan Rai says. Arvind Kumar, another local, claims the CPI leader is the voice of people and deserves to be in Parliament.

Many anti-BJP voters say they will wait till the day of polling to decide whom to back between Kumar and Hasan.

Shakeel Ahmed, an RJD worker, says Muslims have sympathy for Kumar because of his strident stand against the BJP and the RSS but the community may end up backing the RJD candidate.

"You need anywhere between 4 to 5 lakh votes to win. How can the Left get so many votes just because their candidate is Kanhaiya," he asks.

Kumar's critics have also cited his alleged links to anti-India protests in the JNU and incidents of his supporters beating up protestors showing him black flags to corner him. 

The BJP watchers feel the party's tactic of making the election a contest about Modi is working, with most of its supporters asserting their vote is for the prime minister and not for the candidate and lauding his government on issues like national security and strong leadership. 

Since the constituency came into existence in 1952, the CPI has won it only once in 1967 while the RJD won it in 1999. In 2004, it was won by Surajbhan Singh of the LJP while JD(U)'s Monazir Hassan won in 2009. 

Begusarai Lok Sabha constituency comprises seven Vidhan Sabha segments: Cheria Bariarpur, Bachhwara, Teghra, Matihani, Sahebpur Kamal, Begusarai and Bakhri.

The Bihar Mahagathbandhan comprises Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Congress, Rashtriya Lok Samta Party (RLSP), Hindustan Awam Morcha (HAM) and Vikasshil Insan Party (VIP). On the other hand is the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) which comprises Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Janata Dal (United) and Lok Janshakti Party (LJP).

The Congress got nine constituencies as per the seat-sharing arrangements, while the RJD has 20 out of which it has forgone Ara in favour of the CPI(ML), which has returned the favour by announcing that the ultra-Left outfit would not field its candidate from Pataliputra, which would be contested by Lalu Prasad's eldest daughter Misa Bharti. 

Besides, Upendra Kushwaha's RLSP is contesting five seats and Jitan Ram Manjhis HAM is fighting three. The VIP, founded and headed by Bollywood set designer-turned-politician Mukesh Sahni, has got three seats out of the 40 in Bihar.

The polling on this seat will be held in the fourth phase of Lok Sabha elections on April 29. Five constituencies of Bihar's 40 Lok Sabha seats - Darbhanga, Ujiarpur, Samastipur, Begusarai and Munger - will go to polls in the fourth phase. 

The results of the  Lok Sabha election 2019 will be declared on May 23. 

(With PTI inputs)