Hazaribagh, Jan. 31: The Hazaribagh Assembly constituency is set to witness a close contest between a ?tried, tested and experienced? and ?young and novice? players at the hustings.

Though there are 35 contestants in the fray, the contest has limited to four main players ? sitting BJP MLA and agriculture minister Dev Dayal Kushwaha, Congress? Saurabh Narayan Singh, RJD?s Gautam Sagar Rana and independent candidate Brij Kishore Jaiswal, Kushwaha faces the biggest challenge of retaining the seat, which he has been holding for the last three terms.

During the last Lok Sabha election, Kushwaha had defeated Lambodar Pathak of the Congress by 13,912 votes.

Kushwaha, 72, though confident of a win, his supporters feel that it will not be a cakewalk for him. His opponent Saurabh Narayan Singh, 29, who has the advantage of his royal background, is contesting the poll for the first time.

Saurabh is the grandson of the erstwhile King of Ramgarh, Kamakhya Narayan Singh (Padma Maharaj).

?The era of Rajas and Maharajas has gone. This is the age of social workers, those who can serve the society,? said Kushwaha.

?I have done a lot for the constituency and I promise to do much more what has already been done after I get the mandate once again,? he said.

Saurabh has a different reason to be optimistic. ?What has the present MLA done for this constituency? It does not matter for how many years you remain an MLA, but what actually have you done for the people of the constituency. Kushwahaji has done nothing for the people ,? he said.

Besides the two, the other contenders ? Rana and Jaiswal ? are considered potential candidates who can swing the voting pattern in the constituency. Jaiswal, an influential businessman of the city, had been trying to get a BJP ticket but when he didn?t, he decided to contest independently. BJP workers fear that he can eat into a good chunk of their votes, which may ultimately help the Congress.

?A major chunk of Koeri, Kurmi and Sokiyar, who constitute about 22 per cent of the voters, are with Kushwaha, a Koeri.We also have support of the traditional voters,? says a senior party functionary of the district.

?Since 1967 till date, except between 1985 and 1990, Hazaribagh has always sent a member of the Koeri caste to the Assembly,? he says. But he said Jaiswal may gather many votes, especially in the urban pockets, which may prove to be costly to the party.