Maharajganj, June 1: Winning Maharajganj is like a prestige issue for arch-rivals Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad.

The RJD had wrested the seat from the JD(U) in 2009 when Umashankar Singh defeated Prabhunath Singh by just 2,797 votes, while the JD(U)-BJP combine swept the Lok Sabha polls in rest of Bihar, winning 32 of its 40 seats. The RJD’s strength was reduced to just four seats, one of them Maharajganj.

In this bypoll, necessitated by Umashankar’s death in February, Prabhunath Singh is the RJD nominee and Umashankar’s son Jitendra Swami is the Congress candidate. The JD(U) has fielded P.K. Shahi. But when Maharajganj’s 14,98,497 voters step out to cast their votes at the 1,476 polling stations on Sunday, many will see it more as a battle between Lalu and Nitish than between Shahi and Prabhunath.

Lalu said as much to voters while campaigning for six consecutive days here till Friday. “It is a battle between Nitish and I. If you vote for the RJD, you will pave the way for the RJD to wrest power from Nitish,” he said.

The by-election is taking place in the background of Lalu Prasad’s recent Parivartan Rally, which the RJD chief dubbed as a step towards his comeback over seven years after the Nitish-led NDA replaced the Lalu-Rabri regime. The bypoll is also taking place in the backdrop of chief minister Nitish Kumar insisting on a secular PM candidate for the NDA in 2014, implying that he was against the BJP fielding Narendra Modi.

Though one should not compare this bypoll to next year’s general elections, should the JD(U)’s P.K. Shahi wrest the seat from the RJD, it will come as a big morale booster for the chief minister, who is battling differences with his 17-year-old ally ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.

While campaigning in Maharajganj for three days, the chief minister referred more to his and his government’s performance than to the candidate.

“I have come to ask for your vote for the work I have done for you. The election in Maharajganj is crucial because it is taking place only a little ahead of the scheduled Lok Sabha polls. You must understand its importance,” Nitish said at his campaign meetings.

Peeved at Nitish’s objection to Narendra Modi’s candidature for the PM’s post, BJP cadres are either reluctant or indifferent to the JD(U) nominee. Senior BJP leaders and ministers did campaign in Maharajganj but several JD(U) cadres complained of “non-cooperation” from the BJP cadres.

With so much at stake, the polls will take place under tight security. The Election Commission has deployed 12 companies of central paramilitary forces and two battalions of the Bihar Military Police.

Polling will end at 6pm in all segments, except Maoist-dominated Taraiya where it will end at 4pm. “Taraiya has been identified as a rebel-hit segment. That is why we have taken extra caution there,” remarked a senior poll official.