Bihar assembly elections: RJD's candidate pitted against her own 'Jeth' in Sandesh constituency, Shahpur to witness a 'Devrani-Jethani' contest
PATNA: Two assembly constituencies in Bihar's Bhojpur district are all set to witness keen contests between members of the same family.
While in Sandesh constituency, RJD’s candidate Kiran Devi is pitted against her own ‘Jeth’ (husband’s elder brother), in Shahpur, the BJP’s official nominee Munni Devi is facing a challenge from her own ‘Jethani’ (husband’s elder brother’s wife).
Munni Devi, BJP's official candidate from Shahpur assembly seat
In Sandesh, Kiran Devi filed her nomination papers as an RJD candidate on Tuesday, while her ‘Jeth’ and JD(U) candidate Vijendra Kumar Yadav filed his papers on Wednesday.
“For Shahpur seat, the BJP candidate Munni Devi will file her nomination papers on Thursday,” BJP’s Bhojpur district president Prem Ranjan Chaturvedi told TOI over phone on Wednesday. He said Munni's ‘Jethani’ Shobha Devi has already filed her papers as an independent candidate from the same seat.
In the 2000 and November 2005 assembly polls, the Sandesh seat was represented by Vijendra Yadav who was then in the Lalu Prasad-led RJD. But Vijendra lost the seat to BJP’s Sanjay Singh Tiger in the 2010 election.
In 2015 assembly polls, Vijendra’s younger brother Arun Kumar was made the RJD’s candidate from Sandesh seat and Vijendra helped his younger brother win his traditional seat. Arun defeated the BJP’s Sanjay Tiger by a handsome margin, restoring the seat to his family.
In the meantime, Arun’s name cropped up in a case of rape with a minor girl in 2019. As per the police investigation, the said girl was allegedly raped by the RJD MLA in the state capital. As the police made Arun one of the named accused in the case and made necessary legal preparations to arrest him, the MLA went underground. He is still evading arrest in the rape case, while police have already filed charge-sheet against him in the court.
As its sitting MLA is evading arrest in the rape case and has gone underground for the last several months, the RJD fielded his wife Kiran Devi from Sandesh seat in the current election.
On the other hand, Kiran’s own ‘Jeth’ Vijendra Yadav, who was state vice-president of the RJD, after getting a hint that his party would field Arun’s wife in the coming assembly election, changed his political camp. He quit the RJD and joined the Nitish Kumar-led JD(U) on August 7 this year, after getting an assurance of the JD(U) ticket. The JD(U) leadership fulfilled its promise and fielded Vijendra as official candidate of the JD(U) from Sandesh seat. Now, Vijendra will campaign against his own younger brother’s wife in the constituency.
“Though Kiran has been made candidate by the RJD, I am sure of my victory. The JD(U) is far ahead of the RJD in the Sandesh constituency,” Vijendra told TOI over the phone on Wednesday.
Similarly in Shahpur constituency, the BJP candidate and two-term former MLA Munni Devi would seek votes against her own ‘Jethani’ Shobha Devi.
Shobha is the widow of the BJP’s former state vice president Visheshwar Ojha who was shot dead in a gang war on February 12, 2016 at Sonbarsa Bazar under Karnamepur outpost of Shahpur constituency. Munni Devi is wife of Visheshwar’s younger brother Bhuwar Ojha.
In the February 2005 election, Shobha Devi contested from Shahpur seat as JD(U) candidate but she lost the election to the RJD senior leader Shivanand Tiwari, son of veteran socialist leader late Ramanand Tiwari.
In November 2005 election, as Shahpur seat went in the kitty of the BJP and both Ojha brothers – Visheshhwar and Bhuwar, then the history-sheeters in police records, had been evading their arrest; the saffron party decided to field Munni Devi, wife of younger brother Bhuwar Ojha, as it candidate. She won the election on the BJP ticket. Munni repeated her victory in the 2010 election and won the Shahpur seat for the BJP for the second consecutive term.
But in the 2015 election, the BJP denied ticket to its sitting MLA Munni Devi and fielded her ‘Jeth’ Visheshwar as the party's official candidate, leading to bickering and chasm between two brothers and their families. Though Visheshwar bagged around 54,000 votes for the BJP, he lost the election to RJD candidate Rahul Tiwari, son of Shivanand, in the wave of the grand alliance. Rahul had bagged around 69,000 votes.
In the meantime, Visheshwar was gunned down by his rival gang at Sonbarsa Bazar in February, 2016. Visheshwar’s widow Shobha made a claim on the BJP ticket for the current election on the basis of performance of her late husband in the 2015 elections. She also met several senior BJP leaders to seek the party ticket from Shahpur. But she remained unsuccessful. The BJP on Tuesday declared Munni as its official candidate. Shobha has now become a rebel of the BJP and filed her papers as an Independent candidate.
While in Sandesh constituency, RJD’s candidate Kiran Devi is pitted against her own ‘Jeth’ (husband’s elder brother), in Shahpur, the BJP’s official nominee Munni Devi is facing a challenge from her own ‘Jethani’ (husband’s elder brother’s wife).
In Sandesh, Kiran Devi filed her nomination papers as an RJD candidate on Tuesday, while her ‘Jeth’ and JD(U) candidate Vijendra Kumar Yadav filed his papers on Wednesday.
“For Shahpur seat, the BJP candidate Munni Devi will file her nomination papers on Thursday,” BJP’s Bhojpur district president Prem Ranjan Chaturvedi told TOI over phone on Wednesday. He said Munni's ‘Jethani’ Shobha Devi has already filed her papers as an independent candidate from the same seat.
In the 2000 and November 2005 assembly polls, the Sandesh seat was represented by Vijendra Yadav who was then in the Lalu Prasad-led RJD. But Vijendra lost the seat to BJP’s Sanjay Singh Tiger in the 2010 election.
In 2015 assembly polls, Vijendra’s younger brother Arun Kumar was made the RJD’s candidate from Sandesh seat and Vijendra helped his younger brother win his traditional seat. Arun defeated the BJP’s Sanjay Tiger by a handsome margin, restoring the seat to his family.
In the meantime, Arun’s name cropped up in a case of rape with a minor girl in 2019. As per the police investigation, the said girl was allegedly raped by the RJD MLA in the state capital. As the police made Arun one of the named accused in the case and made necessary legal preparations to arrest him, the MLA went underground. He is still evading arrest in the rape case, while police have already filed charge-sheet against him in the court.
As its sitting MLA is evading arrest in the rape case and has gone underground for the last several months, the RJD fielded his wife Kiran Devi from Sandesh seat in the current election.
On the other hand, Kiran’s own ‘Jeth’ Vijendra Yadav, who was state vice-president of the RJD, after getting a hint that his party would field Arun’s wife in the coming assembly election, changed his political camp. He quit the RJD and joined the Nitish Kumar-led JD(U) on August 7 this year, after getting an assurance of the JD(U) ticket. The JD(U) leadership fulfilled its promise and fielded Vijendra as official candidate of the JD(U) from Sandesh seat. Now, Vijendra will campaign against his own younger brother’s wife in the constituency.
“Though Kiran has been made candidate by the RJD, I am sure of my victory. The JD(U) is far ahead of the RJD in the Sandesh constituency,” Vijendra told TOI over the phone on Wednesday.
Similarly in Shahpur constituency, the BJP candidate and two-term former MLA Munni Devi would seek votes against her own ‘Jethani’ Shobha Devi.
Shobha is the widow of the BJP’s former state vice president Visheshwar Ojha who was shot dead in a gang war on February 12, 2016 at Sonbarsa Bazar under Karnamepur outpost of Shahpur constituency. Munni Devi is wife of Visheshwar’s younger brother Bhuwar Ojha.
In the February 2005 election, Shobha Devi contested from Shahpur seat as JD(U) candidate but she lost the election to the RJD senior leader Shivanand Tiwari, son of veteran socialist leader late Ramanand Tiwari.
In November 2005 election, as Shahpur seat went in the kitty of the BJP and both Ojha brothers – Visheshhwar and Bhuwar, then the history-sheeters in police records, had been evading their arrest; the saffron party decided to field Munni Devi, wife of younger brother Bhuwar Ojha, as it candidate. She won the election on the BJP ticket. Munni repeated her victory in the 2010 election and won the Shahpur seat for the BJP for the second consecutive term.
But in the 2015 election, the BJP denied ticket to its sitting MLA Munni Devi and fielded her ‘Jeth’ Visheshwar as the party's official candidate, leading to bickering and chasm between two brothers and their families. Though Visheshwar bagged around 54,000 votes for the BJP, he lost the election to RJD candidate Rahul Tiwari, son of Shivanand, in the wave of the grand alliance. Rahul had bagged around 69,000 votes.
In the meantime, Visheshwar was gunned down by his rival gang at Sonbarsa Bazar in February, 2016. Visheshwar’s widow Shobha made a claim on the BJP ticket for the current election on the basis of performance of her late husband in the 2015 elections. She also met several senior BJP leaders to seek the party ticket from Shahpur. But she remained unsuccessful. The BJP on Tuesday declared Munni as its official candidate. Shobha has now become a rebel of the BJP and filed her papers as an Independent candidate.
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