Meira Kumar: Will she get back the heirloom?

Sasaram, April 16: Delhi’s Karol Bagh and Bihar’s Sasaram are far apart, but they have in common their reserved-for-Scheduled Caste status and Meira Kumar.

Jagjivan Ram’s daughter has won twice from the Lok Sabha seat in Delhi, but lost twice from Sasaram. This time, however, Meira believes her “chances are very bright”. “The tide is against the outgoing BJP MP for his non-performance. He has won the seat three consecutive times,” she says.

Meira, who quit the Indian Foreign Service to join politics, is hopeful that her late father’s legacy will also come to her rescue. Former deputy Prime Minister Jagjivan Ram, fondly known as Babuji here, represented Sasaram almost as long as he lived.

“I am asking the people to send me to Parliament from here just once. I am a daughter of Sasaram,” the former diplomat fighting on a Congress ticket says on the sidelines of her campaign. “The Rashtriya Janata Dal-Congress-Lok Janshakti Party alliance has also helped.”

Her presence appears to have made a difference as the BJP camp is downcast. It has put up former bureaucrat Muni Lal for the fourth time from Sasaram.

But the task for Meira is obviously uphill in the 5,000-sq km constituency that is Bihar’s largest. “Atal magic” will ensure Muni Lal’s entry into the Lok Sabha a fourth time, says local RSS hand Doman Singh, a key player in the BJP’s campaign.

“Atal zaroori hai, Muni Lal majboori hai (Atal is a necessity, Muni Lal is a compulsion),” he says. “This slogan has caught on with the people who want to see India develop. Our situation is improving. Individuals do matter, (but) Vajpayee matters (more),” he adds.

Senior Congress leader Radha Prasad Singh does not agree. “How long will the people be swayed by the Atal magic? An MP has to perform and Muni Lal has not,” he says.

But both Meira and Muni Lal would have to contend with the Naxalites as their impact is obvious in the constituency’s Nauhatta and Chutia regions at the base of the Rohtas hill range.

The extremists have called for a poll boycott. But Meira has “dared” to venture into their strongholds during her “roadshows”, a concept she has borrowed from her leader Sonia Gandhi.

This, says Congress worker Rajeshwar Kushwaha, is a sign of the Naxalites’ support for her.

Unlike Meira, Muni Lal is concentrating on the urban pockets.

He appears to have a reason to do so as residents of nearly 15 villages have stopped his entry. They have been demanding the construction of a bridge over the Kudra river. Frustrated with the lack of response, the villagers have now taken to the streets with the cry: “Pul nahi to vote nahi (No bridge, no vote).”

According to Meira, “there has been no development in the area after Babuji’s demise”.

“The youths are getting diverted due to unemployment. I am your sister, your daughter. Give me one chance to serve you,” she tells a small gathering at Khurmabad, beside the Grand Trunk Road, on one of her dawn-to-dusk roadshows.

An old man in tatters nods in agreement.