Bhojpuri superstar Pawan Singh’s meeting with Rashtriya Lok Morcha chief Upendra Kushwaha on Tuesday is considered to be the master stroke of BJP ahead of Bihar assembly elections. The party seems to be able to unite Kushwaha and Rajput society in favor of NDA once again in Shahabad and Magadh region.
For the past several months, the BJP was trying to strengthen the Shahabad-Magadh region once again in the Bihar assembly elections and it is also very interesting to know how ‘Operation Shahabad’ was being run for it.
Actually, the Shahabad region of Bihar which includes Bhojpur, Buxar, Rohtas and Kaimur, has proved to be the weakest link for the NDA in the last two elections. Whether it is 2020 Bihar assembly elections or 2024 Lok Sabha elections, NDA’s performance has been very disappointed in Shahabad region in both these elections.
2020 Bihar assembly elections
When assembly elections were held in Bihar during Covid-19, there were three phases and in the first phase, voting was held in Shahabad region itself. The Shahabad region, which was always a strong fort of NDA, was the worst performance in the 2020 election.
1. Ara district has 7 assembly seats, out of which NDA won only two seats in 2020. BJP won both the seats.
2. There are 4 assembly seats in Buxar district, out of which NDA could not open its account in 2020.
3. Kaimur has 4 assembly seats, out of which NDA could not open its account in 2020. However, later Bahujan Samaj Party MLA Jama Khan from Chainpur in Kaimur district joined the Janata Dal United.
4. There are 7 assembly seats in Rohtas district, on which the NDA could not open its account.
NDA could win only 2 out of 22 seats
If the situation is understood in this way, then the NDA had won only 2 seats in the 22 assembly of Shahabad region and both of them also won both the seats. This means that the Janata Dal could not even open an account in the United and the constituent parties in Shahabad.
If some seats in Magadh region are added along with Shahabad region, the performance of NDA is worse in 2020.
1. NDA’s account was not opened in 2 seats in Arwal district in 2020.
2. NDA’s account was not opened even on 3 assembly seats in Jehanabad district.
3. NDA’s account was not opened even on 6 seats in Aurangabad district.
4. NDA account did not open in 4 seats in Nawada district.
Mathematics of 2024 Lok Sabha elections
The NDA’s poor performance in Shahabad in the 2020 Bihar assembly elections continued in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. But this time the major reason behind the defeat of the NDA was Rajput and Kushwaha voters. CPI (ML) candidate Sudama Prasad won the Ara Lok Sabha seat. He defeated the then MP of Ara and Union Minister RK Singh.
RJD candidate Sudhakar Singh won from Buxar Lok Sabha seat. Sudhakar Singh defeated BJP candidate Mithilesh Tiwari. Congress candidate Manoj Kumar Ram won from Sasaram Lok Sabha seat. The Congress candidate defeated BJP candidate Shivesh Ram.
CPI (ML) Rajaram Singh Kushwaha won from Karakat Lok Sabha seat. NDA candidate Upendra Kushwaha was defeated due to Bhojpuri superstar Pawan Singh contesting as an independent election from Karakat.
Along with Shahabad region, if 2 seats of Magadh region are also added, that is, Jehanabad and Aurangabad shows that the NDA’s performance was very disappointing, due to which the number of NDA, who won 39 out of 40 seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, decreased to 30 in 2024.
RJD candidate Surendra Prasad Yadav won from Jehanabad Lok Sabha seat, while in Aurangabad, RJD candidate Abhay Kushwaha won.
In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, RJD changed its strategy and gave Kushwaha candidates for 7 seats. Kushwaha was once considered the core vote bank of the NDA, but the strategy of fielding 7 Kushwaha candidates of RJD supremo Lalu Prasad was successful and the Kushwaha voter sparked the NDA in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, which benefited the grand alliance.
Lalu’s MyK equation in 2024
If we look at the figures of caste census in Bihar, more than 6% of the Kushwaha society has a population. Keeping this in mind, Lalu Prasad made a strategy to add about 38%votes in his traditional Muslim (18%) and Yadav (14%) equation in his court.
However, only 2 of the Kushwaha candidates were won with the Grand Alliance, but Kushwaha voters became a major reason for NDA’s defeat in many Lok Sabha seats.
‘Operation Shahabad’ starts
After being completely eliminated in Shahabad region in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP started working on ‘Operation Shahabad’. Working on the strategy of doing Kushwaha vote bank once again in its court, BJP sent Upendra Kushwaha to Rajya Sabha after losing every Lok Sabha elections. After this, Janata Dal United made the MLC of Bhagwan Singh Kushwaha, the strongman of Jagdishpur area of ​​Ara. Along with this, the BJP gave place to the people of 105 Shahabad region in the State Working Committee with the intention of strengthening its position in Shahabad.
The BJP started giving important responsibility to the big leaders coming from Shahabad region in various organizations of the state level. The party made Shivesh Ram, who lost the Lok Sabha elections from Sasaram and made the General Secretary by the party. In the 2020 assembly elections, Rajendra Singh, who contested from the Lok Janshakti Party of Chirag Paswan, was also brought back to the party and he was made the state vice -president.
Rituraj Sinha gets the responsibility of Magadha-Shahabad
Just before the Bihar assembly elections, the BJP started to finalize its election strategy and on September 25, five leaders were given important responsibility, dividing Bihar into five areas. BJP gave Mahendra Singh the responsibility of Mithila and Tirhut region. Arvind Menon was given the responsibility of Champaran and Saran. Pradeep Verma was given the responsibility of Bhagalpur, Kosi and Purnia. Aseem Goyal was given the responsibility of Patna, Munger, Begusarai and Nalanda. Rituraj Sinha had the responsibility of Magadha and Shahabad.
It was also a big challenge for him to give the responsibility of Magadha and Shahabad region to Rituraj Sinha, but within 5 days, he carried out Pawan Singh and Upendra Kushwaha together in a surgical strike in this area.
Upendra Kushwaha went to third in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections due to Pawan Singh contesting from Karakat, due to which he was also shocked. It is believed that BJP candidate RK Singh was defeated in Ara due to Pawan Singh. A few days ago Pawan Singh also met RK Singh. It is clear from coming with Pawan Singh and Upendra Kushwaha that Kushwaha and Rajput votes in Magadh and Shahabad region will once again unite and the NDA can get a tremendous benefit.
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