Dynasty politics: BJP fields politicians’ kin in Bihar polls
21 Sept 2015 6:19 AM IST
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has strongly opposed dynastic politics and blamed Congress and other opposition parties for promoting nepotism in politics, has finally joined the bandwagon.
The second list of 99 candidates, which was declared by Union Health Minister JP Nadda, secretary of Central Election Committee (CEC) of BJP, clearly shows that <g data-gr-id="94">kins</g> of political heavyweights have been “accommodated” in the name of their fathers.
The prominent political kids who have found a place in the BJP’s second list of candidate include Vivek Thakur, <g data-gr-id="96">Arjit</g> Shashwat, Sanjeev Chaurasia, Ajay Pratap Singh, Nitish Mishra, Rana Randhir Singh, among others. Vivek is <g data-gr-id="116">son</g> of former union minister CP Thakur, who has been fielded from Brahampur seat replacing the sitting MLA Dil Mani Kunwar. Kunwar is the daughter-in-law of party patriarch Kailashpati Mishra, who nurtured the party’s earlier incarnation — Jan Sangh — in Bihar.
Notably, in the last assembly poll, Vivek Thakur had refused to contest from this seat as he wanted to get elected from Digha seat.
Similarly, <g data-gr-id="101">Arjit</g> Sashwat is the elder son of Buxar MP Ashwini Choubey and the party candidate from Bhagalpur seat, which has been represented by his father for several terms. The fight is set to be very tough for Sashwat, who is making his political debut against Congress’s MLA <g data-gr-id="102">Ajeet</g> Sharma. The Congress had wrested the seat from BJP in the 2014 by-poll after Choubey was elected to Lok Sabha.
Sanjeev Chaurasia is the elder son of senior BJP leader and RSS flag-bearer Ganga Prasad and party’s candidate from Digha seat.
Chaurasia <g data-gr-id="106">learnt</g> political lessons while being the general secretary of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha for two terms.
Nitish <g data-gr-id="98">Mihsra</g>, son of former Bihar CM Jagannath Mishra, has been fielded from Jhanjharpur seat, while Rana Randhir Singh, son of RJD’s senior leader Sitaram Singh, is BJP’s nominee from Madhuban seat. Ajay Pratap Singh, son of Janata Dal (U) rebel MLA Narendra Singh, wrested the <g data-gr-id="99">Jamui</g> candidacy for himself in the teeth of much opposition from the Lok Janshakti Party. Commenting on ticket distribution, former union minister Sanjay Paswan said, “It will not be correct to say that they have been given tickets just because they are sons of prominent leaders. All of them, expect Arijit, are established names in politics. Vivek Thakur, Sanjeev Chaurasia, Nitish <g data-gr-id="100">Mihsra</g>, Rana Randhir are more popular and active than their fathers in their respective constituencies.”
Paswan further added that Thakur had also earlier contested from Brahampur <g data-gr-id="114">seat,</g> but was defeated, while Mishra is sitting MLA and Randhir had also won <g data-gr-id="113">Madhuban</g> seat for two times.
Some news faces have also been given tickets to taste the political waters. The BJP has fielded Pradeep Dubey, a product of Banaras Hindu University, from Buxar replacing <g data-gr-id="95">two <g data-gr-id="109">time</g></g> sitting MLA Sukhda Pandey.
Manjhi's HAM releases <g data-gr-id="128">second</g> list
Admitting differences with the BJP over seat sharing, former chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi's HAM party on Sunday released its second list of seven candidates for the Bihar elections. Former MP Lovely Anand features in the list. "There are some differences with the BJP over three seats but we hope it will be sorted out," Manjhi told <g data-gr-id="103">mediapersons</g>. Manjhi had earlier announced the first list of 13 candidates. In the second list, Lovely Anand, former MP and wife of jailed leader Anand Mohan, will contest from Sheohar, Salim Ali from Bela Ganj, Nutan Paswan from Masaurih, Mukesh Kumar from Sherghati, <g data-gr-id="104">Jeba</g> Khatoon from Jokihat, Naresh Shah from Sheikhpura and Manju Devi from Sinheshswar. Manjhi said he will request Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah to field rebel JD-U legislator Poonam Devi from Digha constituency in Patna.
"The BJP has promised to give party symbol to five HAM <g data-gr-id="118">candidates</g> but it has not happened yet," a senior HAM leader said after the BJP released its second list of candidates on Saturday. Manjhi's Hindustan Awami Morcha is a part of the BJP-led NDA coalition in Bihar.
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