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It has been a surprising race for Ravi Shankar Paswan, 44, an Independent candidate in the Mohania constituency in Kaimur district, with the twists and turns coming out in his favour so far. After Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) candidate Sweta Suman’s nomination was unexpectedly cancelled, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav threw his weight behind Mr. Paswan, urging his party workers and voters to extend their full support to the Independent in Mohania, which is a seat reserved for Scheduled Caste candidates. On October 22, the Election Commission of India (ECI) rejected Ms. Suman’s nomination on the grounds that she was a resident of Uttar Pradesh, making her ineligible to contest the election in Bihar. Changing loyalties Mr. Yadav’s declaration of support has completely changed the dynamics of the battle, making it a direct contest between Mr. Paswan and sitting MLA Sangita Kumari. Though she won the last election on an RJD ticket, she switched loyalties before the Assembly election, joining the BJP in the presence of the party’s State chief Dilip Kumar Jaiswal, and is now competing as a BJP candidate. Mr. Paswan himself is not a new face, nor is he a stranger to the changing allegiances of Bihar politics. He is the son of Chhedi Paswan, former MP from Sasaram, who was elected to the Lok Sabha on a BJP ticket in 2014 and 2019, though he had earlier been elected as the Mohania MLA on a Janata Dal (United) ticket in 2005 and 2010. Mr. Ravi Paswan himself unsuccessfully contested the 2015 election from Mohania as a Samajwadi Party candidate. Now he is back in the fray with the sudden support of the RJD cadre, obtained without much hard work on his part, though he expressed his sympathies for Ms. Suman’s cancelled nomination. “I cannot do anything about that but yes, I am really grateful to Tejashwi Yadav ji who has officially made me the candidate of his party. When her nomination got cancelled, I received a call from Tejashwi ji and asked me to meet. He must have seen some quality in me. He must have full trust in me that I can win the election,” Mr. Paswan said, at his father’s residence in Sasaram. He expressed his confidence that his dedication to the people of Mohania, working with his father for 20 years, will earn him the support of voters as well. Political musical chairs The Mohania Assembly seat has had a checkered history. The Congress has won it five times, while the RJD has won it twice, and a series of other parties -- the BJP, RJD, Janata Party and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) -- have also held power here. Suresh Pasi is the only legislator who has represented this seat thrice, twice with the BSP and once with the RJD. The BJP’s Niranjan Ram won this seat twice in 2014 (bypoll) and in 2015, but was defeated by the RJD’s Ms. Kumari in 2020. Now, she has joined the BJP, adding to the complications in this game of political musical chairs. Mr. Paswan said voters would punish Ms. Kumari for changing sides. “I am going to win the seat with a very good margin. There is huge anger towards the sitting MLA who is infamous for taking commission in every project. She has cheated her own voters by joining BJP,” Mr. Paswan said He insisted that his father had not played any role in getting him RJD support, though Mr. Chhedi Paswan is openly campaigning for his son, asserting that “if Ravi Paswan wins, Tejashwi Yadav will become the Chief Minister”. “I pray for the bright future of Ravi Shankar Paswan; before my son, he is the leader of this Assembly constituency. He has not asked me to campaign, I have come by myself,” Mr. Chhedi Paswan said. ‘Parachute candidate’ Surrounded by her supporters in Dasauti village, Ms. Kumari lashed out at Mr. Paswan, terming him a parachute candidate without any support base. “I have worked with the people for five long years and people know me very well. I have not been dropped in by a helicopter. The RJD had made up its mind to drop me, that’s why they gave tickets to someone else, I did not leave the party,” Ms. Kumari said. On Mr. Paswan’s allegations that she took commissions, Ms. Kumari retorted: “He will say so because his father has been taking commission throughout his political career.” Anti-incumbency protests Anti-incumbency sentiment is visible in Mohania, which will vote in the second phase. When Ms. Kumari went to campaign in Mohanpur village near Kudra block, angry villagers asked why she was seeking their vote when she had not noticed their plight in the last five years. As the protest escalated, the BJP candidate was forced to remain in her car and leave the venue. “She never came here and now she is remembering us when the election has come. We do not want an MLA who is not bothered about us and only cares about herself,” said Mithilesh Paswan, a villager of Mohanpur. Later, Ms. Kumari termed it a planned protest, condemning the villagers’ behaviour with a woman legislator. The other candidates in the fray in Mohania are from the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Jan Suraaj Party (JSP).
