Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) chief Ram Vilas Paswan, mockingly or endearingly, is called “mausam vaigyanik (weather scientist)” in political circles, for his political acumen in predicting which way the wind is blowing.

This time too, he foresees the return of the Narendra Modi government at the Centre and a landslide like 2014 in Bihar.

But in his own bastion of Hajipur, which he has represented eight times since 1977 but is not contesting this time, his younger brother Pashupati Kumar Paras, a minister in the Nitish Kumar cabinet and LJP’s state unit chief, has the responsibility of keeping the flag flying in the face of a spirited challenge from the RJD.

Since 1977, Paswan has lost from Hajipur twice to former Bihar chief minister (late) Ram Sunder Das, in 1989 and 2009, and once to Ram Ratan Ram of the Congress in 1984. Das once won on Janata Dal ticket and the second time as JD-U candidate. On rest of the occasions, Paswan won by huge margins.

This time, RJD’s Shiv Chandra Ram, a former minister in the Bihar government who represents Raja Pakar Assembly seat under Hajipur Lok Sabha constituency, is putting up a spirited challenge to Paras, who is banking heavily on his brother’s charisma. Paras currently represents Alauli assembly seat in Khagaria Lok Sabha constituency.

Raja Pakar is one of six assembly segments falling under Hajipur Lok Sabha constituency. Three of the six seats are with the RJD. Of the other three, Hajipur assembly seat is with the BJP, while Lalganj and Mahnar is with the LJP and JD-U, respectively.

Two other assembly segments of Hajipur Lok Sabha constituency – Mahua and Raghopur – are with the two sons of RJD chief Lalu Prasad – Tej Pratap Yadav and Tejaswhi Prasad Yadav.

Raghopur was earlier represented twice by former Bihar CM Rabri Devi.

“This is a fight between the king and the pauper. This is a fight against those involved in spreading hatred and violence against the poor and scheduled castes. Please help me,” says Ram, seeking donations from the common man in his bank account, which he displays with account number and IFSC code through social media.

Ram’s Twitter handle has the suffix ‘chamar’ after his name and he claims “proud to be a chamar”, to underline the importance of caste in the reserved constituency. What he banks on is the strong RJD presence in the constituency and Tejaswhi has already been campaigning for him.

Besides him and Paras, there are nine other candidates in the fray, including Umesh Das ofBahujan Samaj Party,Dasai Chaudhary ofNationalist Congress Party and two independents with surname Paswan. There are two more candidates with surname Paswan – Jibas Paswan of the Socialist Unity Centre of India (Communist) and Rajgir Paswan of the Bajjikanchal Vikas Party.

“Ram Vilas Paswan held sway over the seat for a long time. Even when he lost, it was a very slender margin. This time, there was a lot of speculation that he might field Chirag from here, but the seat has gone to Paras. One thing is certain that his impact is huge in Hajipur and Paras will also count on it,” said Prof Vijay Kumar of the BRA Bihar University.

First Published: May 01, 2019 15:49 IST