Patna Sahib: As the evening progressed, a fight broke out over cups of lassi. You can choose to blame the Patna heat wave, but on the 6th of May, the very evening
Mahagathbandhan candidate
Shatrughan Sinha was inaugurating the party head office of Patna Sahib in Kakarbagh, men and women Congress volunteers scrambling for an extra cup was arguably a new low in any campaigning.
Back in March the city had gaped in despair when BJP’s state-level
factionalism had exposed its ugly head when supporters of
Ravi Shankar Prasad and the party’s sitting Rajya Sabha candidate RK Sinha clashed at the Patna airport in full public glare.
With less than a week of polling, this high profile contest at BJP’s “gargh” (bastion) is turning out to be a case of missed opportunities for Bihari Babu “Shotgun” Sinha who is seeking a hattrick from his favorite constituency. The star campaigner of Congress becoming a victim of mismanagement, ineffectual outreach, a lacklustre campaign and a late start that is turning out to be a massively expensive folly.
“He had a great chance. He had to only focus on three of the 6 Assembly constituencies – Kumhrar, Digha, Bhaktipur. But he’s busy campaigning all across the country and will be unable to defend his home turf,” feels a senior BJP functionary who is disillusioned at his party’s decision to field Prasad. “He’s started campaigning from beginning of May when Ravi Shankar has been camping here right from day 1.”
Make no mistake, Sinha is still adored and admired, especially among middle-aged voters. His deep booming voice still resonates just like his efforts to improve healthcare, road infrastructure. But his absenteeism has started to irk many.
“Where is our MP?” asks Santosh Pandey, a residence of Nala Road, Kadam Kuan, Sinha’s old neighbourhood. “He does not come here much but stays at Maurya Hotel.”
Sinha, 72, brushes aside all critiscism. “This is my home city. I know its problem, the people. I have been representing Patna for 10 years.” “It is perceived wisdom that anyone who has seen RJD’s misrule in the 1990s cannot vote for them any longer. Yet there so much dissention within BJP’s party workers, that Shatrughan had to damage only the Kayastha vote in assembly seats like Fatuha, Bhaktiarpur that are dominated by Yadavs and Rajputs.
Unlike last time, the
Yadav vote this time is unlikely to swing towards BJP due to the sympathy wave riding on a jailed Lalu Prasad. The Muslims vote in any case seldom goes towards BJP. A 31% Yadav-Muslim captive vote bank was to give Sinha a great edge which he now seems to have frittered away.
He should have been far more aggressive to capitalise on this Mandal Maths. Based on 2015 numbers, there are 20.5 lakh voters in the whole constituency of which 4 lakh plus are Kayastha voters concentrated around Bankipur, Digha, Kumhrar. Traditionally a Congress voter, since Jayprakash Narayan, they have migrated towards the BJP.
Other upper castes – around 4 lakh Rajputs, 2 lakh Bhumihars, Brahmins that together constitute the forward block will in any case vote for Modi.