Election Result 2019: Two debutants in a triangular battle in Valmikinagar Lok Sabha seat

Even as the Congress was looking to revive its fortunes in its traditional stronghold of Valmikinagar, a Lok Sabha constituency on Bihar’s border with Uttar Pradesh which is went to polls on May 12, the party was finding it tough to regain its lost influence despite having fielded grandson of former chief minister (late) Kedar Pandey, .

Its candidate Shashwat Kedar (32), an alumnus of the elite Mayo College, Ajmer, who also holds BBA and MBA degrees, was being referred to many as a “vote eater”.

Kedar was pitted against JD(U)’s Baidyanath Kushwaha, who won the seat in 2009 but lost to BJP’s Satish Chandra Dubey in 2014, and BSP’s Deepak Yadav, a Harvard alumnus who owns a sugar mill in the area and was one of the richest candidates in Bihar this time.

The BJP ceded the Valmikinagar Lok Sabha seat to ally JD-U this time as part of their seat sharing deal. Though its sitting MP Dubey initially seemed set to join the fray as a rebel, he has since been pacified.

Before the results Updesh Shah had said,“This Congress nominee is looking like a vote-eater.” He is a resident of Bherihari, a village located at short distance away from Valmikinagar and dominated by Tharu, a tribal community that forms a sizeable chunk of voters in the constituency,

Another resident, Shivjatan, had underlined the fact that no big leader had come so far to campaign for the Congress candidate. In fact, , RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav had cut short his speech at a rally in the area, apparently because of the poor turnout.

Also Read | Lok Sabha election 2019: In Bihar’s Valmiki Nagar, BJP holds the fort

Deepak Yadav’s entry into the fray had also complicated the matters both for JD-U and Congress.

Congress workers on the ground said Shashwat has a winning chance but needs to do more. “Gone are the days when workers used to sweat it out in sweltering sun. One must motivate the workers,” said a Congress functionary who refused to be identified, while rejecting the poll strategy adopted by the Congress nominee.

He, however, believes Shashwat’s chances will depend on votes polled by BSP’s Deepak Yadav. “If Deepak Yadav makes a 30 per cent dent in Tharu votes, our victory is imminent. However, Yadav could upset Congress’s chances if he eats into Muslim or Yadav votes.”

Yadav, on his part, seems sure of his win. “All I can say with reasonable confidence is that things are moving the way I wanted them to go. People are turning up in my support and even giving me monetary support to fight elections,” he says.

JD-U’s Kushwaha too sounded confident. “This election is different from the last one. This time, bhot katwas (vote-eaters) are damaging each another.”

However, apart from ill-health, Kushwaha is also faced with allegations of non-performance. “We have tried him in the past. But he failed to ensure development in the area. What now can be expected from him when he is aging,” said Mukesh Shukla, a resident of Navgawa, a Brahmin-dominated village under Yogapatti police station. “We must support Shashwat, who is the lone Brahmin candidate for the grand alliance in the state,” says another resident.

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