Leaders of the Grand Alliance have been calling it a BJP conspiracy against Upendra Kushwaha.
– Photo : Amar Ujala Digital
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Bhojpuri actor Pawan Singh, who contested as an independent candidate from Karakat Lok Sabha constituency in Bihar, has done his job. Those with deep knowledge of politics already knew that he would not win. It was also known that he would only benefit CPI-ML-Liberation candidate Rajaram Singh. It was also known that he would only harm Rashtriya Lok Morcha chief Upendra Kushwaha, who was satisfied with just one Lok Sabha ticket from the National Democratic Alliance quota. If those with deep knowledge of politics knew so much, then why would no one have told this to Pawan Singh, who had just entered politics? Wouldn’t the BJP stalwarts have explained to Pawan Singh, who turned down the ticket after being made a candidate from Asansol in the first list of the Bharatiya Janata Party along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi? If you go into the answers to these questions, you will probably agree that the BJP is prepared to lose this one seat out of 40 in Bihar in advance.
Why is Upendra Kushwaha’s career in trouble?
Due to Nitish Kumar factor in Bihar politics, BJP has had to do a lot. When Chirag Paswan tried his best to defeat CM Nitish Kumar’s party Janata Dal United in Bihar Assembly Elections 2020, what BJP did to the son of late Ram Vilas Paswan is not hidden from anyone. Upendra Kushwaha was in JDU last year, he left after a lot of arguments and returned to NDA after some time. He was a Minister of State with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in NDA government before 2019. Before Lok Sabha Elections 2019, he resigned from the ministerial post just like Pashupati Kumar Paras this time. The only difference was that Kushwaha came out with some time. That matter has become old, but now what came out in Karakat Lok Sabha election results – this was bound to be remembered. Sunil Kumar Sinha, president of Chanakya School of Political Rights and Research, also adds, “It is important to remind that BJP has Samrat Choudhary as its ‘Kushwaha’, whom the party gave a lot to shortly after his induction from another party. Meaning, there is no crisis of representation of Kushwaha caste in BJP.”
See why he did not contest on BJP seats
Was this NDA seat lost deliberately? To know the answer to this question, the entire episode related to Pawan Singh’s candidature will have to be remembered. Pawan Singh refused to contest against Trinamool’s Shatrughan Sinha after getting the ticket from Asansol. After that, he tried for a ticket from Bhojpur region. When BJP did not give him the seat of Ara and Buxar, he went to Karakat. BJP’s ally Upendra Kushwaha was already decided in Karakat. Still Pawan went there. Pawan Singh stayed till the last moment, so BJP did the formality of releasing him from the party. But, by then he had taken whatever advantage he could of being a BJP member in his campaign. However, senior journalist and political analyst Praveen Bagi says that “Pawan Singh went there with the confidence of winning, not defeating Upendra Kushwaha. He thought that in the fight between the two Kushwahas, he would get the support of the general voters including his Rajput caste. But, this did not happen. He achieved what he had to by cutting the votes of Upendra Kushwaha. He could not win and also became the reason for Upendra Kushwaha’s defeat.”
The number of votes they got while being in the grand alliance did not even come
In 2019, Mahabali Singh of Janata Dal United won here. Meaning, this time JDU left this seat for Upendra Kushwaha as part of coordination. Last time NDA candidate Mahabali Singh got around four lakh votes here. Then Mahagathbandhan candidate Upendra Kushwaha got 3.13 lakh votes. This time Upendra Kushwaha campaigned for NDA in almost every seat in the first six phases and also seemed confident about his seat. He felt that when he can get 3.13 lakh votes as a Mahagathbandhan candidate, then he will definitely get the votes JDU got last time as an NDA candidate. This could not happen. In this affair, Kushwaha lagged behind badly.
Will BJP get rid of the stain or get rid of the body
After the crushing defeat of Rashtriya Lok Morcha chief and Karakat’s NDA candidate Upendra Kushwaha, it is natural to raise the question that if BJP could not control Pawan Singh, will it now take moral responsibility for this defeat and do something for him? By the way, as far as moral responsibility is concerned, even BJP’s own candidates could not save their seats. BJP, which won 100 percent seats in 2019, seems to be falling flat on its face in Bihar this time. JDU’s performance is better than that. In such a situation, the question arises whether Nitish Kumar will go to the other camp to capitalize on this performance? In response to this question, Sunil Kumar Sinha says- “If this happens, a lot will change, but it did not happen and if the NDA under the leadership of BJP forms a stable government at the center, then it should do something different for Upendra Kushwaha. If Kushwaha’s honest efforts and sacrifice of keeping silence even after getting one seat will go in vain, then its wrong message will go just like the Chirag Paswan episode. If the BJP wants to give respect to Kushwaha, then it can give him entry in Rajya Sabha in place of Vivek Thakur, who became a Lok Sabha MP.”
