'Prashant Kishor is forgetting that the BJP will field a strong candidate against Tejashwi from Raghopur.'
'His entry will force a three corner contest in Raghopur, an easy battle for the RJD.'
If Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor contests next month's Bihar assembly election from the Raghopur assembly seat against Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav, the current MLA from Raghopur, it will ensure a lively electoral encounter defined by caste and contrasting political personalities.
"Tejashwi will lose Raghopur if I contest the polls from there," Prashant Kishor claimed before he traveled to the constituency to confer wirh electors there.
Raghopur is considered a traditional RJD stronghold, a bastion of the Lalu Prasad-Rabri Devi political dynasty.
Tejashwi Yadav has twice won the assembly election from Raghopur, in 2015 and 2020.
His father Lalu Prasad has won the seat twice, his mother Rabri Devi thrice though she has also been defeated in Raghopur.
Raghopur is a Yadav-dominated rural constituency. In recent decades, no non-Yadav won the seat.
Political analysts believe Prashant Kishor plans to use Raghopur to stay in the news since Tejashwi is likely to be the Mahagathbandan's chief ministerial candidate.
Prashant Kishor Pandey is a Brahmin, a powerful upper caste, who has little chance, political observers say, to get Yadav support and votes to defeat Tejashwi.
"Prashant Kishor is forgetting that the BJP will field a strong candidate against Tejashwi from Raghopur. His entry will force a three corner contest in Raghopur, an easy battle for the RJD," one observer points out.
Two days ago, the Jan Suraaj Party declared its first list of 51 candidates for the Bihar assembly polls.
Party sources said then that Prashant Kishor would not contest the polls and only lead the campaign and plan the Jan Suraaj's electoral strategy.
Prashant Kishor has said his party will contest all 243 assembly sests.
Feature Presentation: Rajesh Alva/Rediff
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