Former Delhi Police chief Nikhil Kumar hopes to win polls from Bihar

Aurangabad, Bihar: Undeterred by his loss in the 2009 polls here, former Delhi Police chief and Congress candidate Nikhil Kumar is hoping to benefit from an alliance with RJD to win the seat, represented by his late father and former Chief Minister Satyendra Narayan Sinha seven times.

Kumar, who lost last elections to JD(U)’s Sushil Kumar Singh, is facing his old rival once again, the only change being that Singh recently switched over to BJP and is now riding the Narendra Modi bandwagon.

Though Kumar hopes to benefit from Congress’ alliance with Lalu Prasad’s RJD, the growing support for Modi in Bihar is likely to make the going tough for him.

A total of 13 candidates are in the fray in Aurangabad, which will go to polls in the first phase on Thursday. There are 15,35,514 voters here – 8,29,534 men and 7,05,930 women.

Due to the overwhelming presence of the Rajput community, Aurangabad is popularly referred to as the ‘Chittorgarh of Bihar’. Nikhil Kumar’s late father represented the seat seven times since Independence.

Nikhil Kumar and Sushil Kumar Singh, both belonging to the dominant Rajput caste, have been old rivals in electoral battles in Aurangabad.

In 1999, Kumar’s wife Shyama Singh defeated Singh while Kumar himself trounced him in 2004. But Singh avenged that loss in 2009.

The rivalry even predates them. Sushil Singh’s father, Ram Naresh Singh, who was locally known as ‘Luttan Singh’, was a close associate of Satyendra Narayan Sinha, but later defeated Shyama Singh and has represented the seat twice in the past.

This time, JD(U) has fielded Baggi Kumar Verma, who recently switched to the party from RJD. Verma would be eyeing votes of the backward Kushwaha and Extremely Backward Caste and Mahadalits besides Muslims.

Nikhil Kumar, who left the Kerala governorship to fight the polls, is facing complaints that he is cut off from the common man. “He rarely comes to Aurangabad and even when he is in town, it is difficult to meet him for solutions to local problems,” said Krishna Singh, an Aurangabad resident.

But Anil Kumar Singh, chief of Mahuman panchayat, disagrees.

“Due to his clout in Delhi, Nikhil Kumar has built a lot of small bridges and other civic facilities in Aurangabad,” he said.

Jagdish Singh of Dev block, which has the famous Dev temple, was more categorical. He said that though Sushil Singh is more accessible to the public, he cannot match the clout Nikhil Kumar enjoys in Patna and Delhi to bring development work here.

The Extremely Backward Caste, whose members make up over 20 percent of the voters in the constituency, is another big factor which could decide the contest.

Pramod Singh Chandravanshi, national executive committee of JD(U), sounded confident that the “good work” done by Chief Minister Kumar was driving EBC towards the party.

The Mayawati-led BSP has fielded Santosh Kumar while Aam Aadmi Party has handed the ticket to Rajni Lata Singh here.

The Aurangabad Lok Sabha seat comprises six Assembly segments – Kutumba, Aurangabad, Rafiganj, Gurua, Imamganj and Tikari. Three of the six segments – Kutumba (SC reserved), Rafiganj and Imamganj – have JD(U) MLAs while the rest – Aurangabad, Gurua and Tikari – have BJP legislators.

Campaigning in the constituency picked up with a rally addressed by Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi on 1 April followed by one by BJP President Rajnath Singh on 3 April.

Chief Minister Kumar and RJD President Lalu Prasad have also made several trips to the constituency to drum up support for their candidates.

Since Aurangabad shares a boundary with Jharkhand’s Palamu, which is a Naxal-hit district, the administration is making strong preparations to prevent any untoward incidents during polling.

PTI