Vaishali (Bihar), April 20: It is a battle between a gangster in a “right” party and a Samaritan in the “wrong” one in Vaishali.
The region that is known to have once hosted the ancient Licchavi clan, Lord Mahavira, Gautama Buddha and Fa Xian (Fa Hien) today offers a setting quite in contrast with enough ingredients to beat a Bollywood potboiler.
The reason: the politics of the region. From this area, JD(U) has fielded don Vijay Kumar Shukla, alias Munna Shukla, who faces numerous cases of murder and dacoity, against Union rural development minister and RJD nominee Raghubansh Prasad Singh.
Singh is a four-time winner from this seat and is referred to as the Samaritan.
The region with its roots deep in the pages of history has been home to the Shukla “clan” that has ruled the area with the might of the gun for long now.
Munna Shukla’s eldest brother, Chhotan Shuka, was gunned down in a gang war in early Nineties. By the time of his death, Chhotan was known to have murdered over 10 people and unleashed a reign of terror in the region.
Next in line, Bhutkun Shukla teamed up with the youngest among the siblings (Munna) to carry on in the footsteps of the elder brother figuring in several murders, including the one of IAS officer G. Krishnnaiah and former minister Brijbihari Prasad. Like Chhotan, Bhutkun, too, was gunned down by rivals, leaving Munna — the Lalganj MLA and JD(U) nominee from Vaishali — to keep the family flag flying.
Though Patna High Court recently acquitted Munna in the G. Krishnnaiah murder, he still faces trial in several others.
“The only thing that might work in his favour is the fact that he is with the JD(U) and Nitish Kumar who has emerged as a symbol of development and good governance,” said L.P. Sahi, an educated voter from Sandha village on the Muzaffarpur-Motipur road.
Sahi and his neighbours stressed that the majority of the electorate would support Munna, a candidate from a party that has ushered in an era of development after 15-years of Lalu-Rabri misrule”.
On the other hand, Raghubansh Prasad Singh from Lalu Prasad’s RJD has only his clean image and performance to take on the don.
In his campaigns Singh has mentioned his role in the UPA government’s flagship- national rural employment guarantee scheme and its success in providing gainful employment to the aam admi in India’s hinterlands, including Vaishali. Voters, too, agree.
“Raghubansh babu is like a guardian. But, he should have contested as a JD(U) nominee,” rued Kailash Kumar, a voter from Motipur, harbouring sympathy for Raghubansh and yet favouring Shukla.
As a Singh supporter rued: “Nitish Kumar should have refrained from fielding a criminal against a Union minister whose integrity is impeccable.”
Others in the RJD circles worry what message would go across the country’s political circles if Munna Shukla defeats Singh.
What adds to Singh’s agony is the presence of Congress’s Hind Kesari Yadav who threatens to cut into RJD’s Yadav support base, helping the JD(U) nominee indirectly.
