Whirring choppers carrying political party leaders on their campaign trail have become a common sight in many “hot seats” of poll-bound Bihar these days. But particularly prestigious is the Bankipore Assembly constituency in Patna.
Vying for the Bankipore seat are an alumnus of Oxford University, a former student of the London School of Economics, actor Shatrughan Sinha’s son Luv Sinha, former BJP leader Sushma Sahu and three-time BJP MLA Nitin Navin.
Manish Barriarr, 44, an alumnus of Oxford University started his campaign a few days ago. Supporting him on the campaign trail are two of his friends — Amritesh Kumar, an alumnus of IIM-Kozhikode and Manjit Singh, an alumnus of the Delhi School of Economics. In 2019-20, Mr. Barriarr had won a scholarship for an organisational leadership programme at Oxford.
The son of Patna High Court lawyer Binod Kumar Barriarr, Manish had worked in a multi-national firm but later entered the teaching profession, along with his wife — a Delhi University graduate.
“I ask for votes to improve education and work for industrialisation and town planning... if these three things are worked upon, the rest will fall in line automatically here,” he said. He has raised money for the campaign through crowd-funding from friends and well-wishers. “We need more and more candidates like Manish to become lawmakers of the State and improve our political system,” Satish Kumar, a resident of the constituency told The Hindu .
New party
Another candidate in the fray is Pushpam Priya Chaudhury, an alumna of the London School of Economics. She has floated a new party “Plurals”. Advertisements in local newspapers and billboards dotting the roads of Patna term her an ideal candidate for the Chief Minister’s post. Her party has fielded candidates in a few other constituencies as well. The daughter of a JD(U) leader from Darbhanga district, Ms. Chaudhury has been promoting herself on social media too.
The latest entrant into the fray is Luv Sinha, son of Bollywood actor Shatrughan Sinha who is a former, two-time BJP MP from Patna Sahib Lok Sabha constituency (in which the Bankipore Assembly seat falls). Luv Sinha joined the Congress party on October 14 and is likely to file his nomination for Bankipore soon.
Luv Sinha was actively involved in Shatrughan Sinha’s campaign for the 2019 Lok Sabha election on a Congress ticket. The actor lost to BJP’s Ravi Shankar Prasad.
BJP vote bank
Also in the electoral arena is a former prominent face of Bihar BJP’s women’s wing Sushma Sahu. She was actively involved in political activities of the BJP but is now contesting as an Independent candidate. She is likely to make a significant dent into the vote bank of the sitting BJP MLA Nitin Navin.
Nitin Navin is a three-time MLA from the seat, which was earlier represented by his father, Navin Kishore Sinha. Nitin Navin, who filed his nomination on Thursday, appeared confident of retaining the seat. “I hardly bother who is in the fray against me…I’ve full confidence in my relationship with local people here, which goes back years and years,” he said.
