Paliganj Constituency Could be the Cause for Shifting Sands in Bihar Elections

Can Paliganj Constituency really have an impact in the Bihar Elections? Learn more

Wednesday, 21st October 2020

Communist Party of India (ML-Liberation) candidate Sandeep Saurav’s campaign vehicles strut around the villages of Paliganj assembly seat close to Patna.

Former student of JNU, Saurav is an out and out activist. While travelling through the villages he makes constant stops on the road to meet people, greet them, ask for their support and bring up contentious topics such as poor education, inadequate infrastructure and an abominable growth in the rate of unemployment in the state.

As the local people look at him with awe and amusement, he continues with his agenda of ‘Right to education, water in the irrigation canal, and provisions for jobs’.

The constituency of Paliganj could quite possibly be the reason for a turn in the Bihar Election of 2020. This seat was won by RJD in 2015, but had shifted ally CPI (M-L) in the Mahagathbandhan alliance that includes the Congress.

However, in the meanwhile, RJD sitting MLA Jai Vardhan Yadav is contesting on the JD(U) ticket, while Usha Vidyarthi, who won Paliganj as a BJP candidate in 2010, is fighting this time as an LJP nominee.

Although some listeners agree with Saurav, others are stoic and there are a few who disagree and express their concerns and disillusionment. Saurav is adamant to reverse this mind-set and “restore people’s fail in politics again” if he gets elected.

Grasping the issue of the age-old caste system, Saurav talks about his party’s continued struggles against this system which has brought about innumerable injustices and their perseverance in ensuring “the basic dignity of people”. He said the time has arrived for them to discuss their “right to employment, education and employment”.

Saurav is the newest addition in the list of Leftist student activists who have stepped into the electoral scenario. He has kicked off his political career back in the university as an AISA activist. He holds a doctorate degree in Hindi literature and has spent much of his college life engaging in agitations against the Centre over Leftist issues.

Source: Indian Express