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The first phase of the 2025 Bihar assembly elections is set to commence within eight days with a strong contest in the Chapra assembly constituency in the Saran district, which has remained a stronghold of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) since 2010.
The BJP has fielded Choti Kumari, denying a ticket to CN Gupta, a RSS sanghchalak (chief) of Saran, who has held the reins in Chapra assembly constituency since 2015. If nothing, it most definitely eliminates the anti-incumbency factor for the BJP in Chapra, giving Choti Kumari an upper hand in the polls scheduled for November 6. It is to be noted that Rakhi Gupta, who remains a popular figure in Chapra, is contesting the assembly polls as a rebel candidate, which has become a cause of concern for the BJP. The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) has fielded Shatrughan Kumar Yadav alias Khesari Lal Yadav, a popular figure in Bihar known for his contributions to Bhojpuri cinema as a singer and actor. Born in Chapra, Yadav joined the RJD in the presence of Tejashwi Yadav on October 16. With Khesari Lal as Mahagathbandhan's candidate in Chapra, the RJD hopes to attract voters in the said assembly seat, cashing in on Yadav's celebrity appeal among youth, especially in his hometown. Prashant Kishor's Jan Suraaj, on the other hand, has fielded Jai Prakash Singh, who has served as an IPS officer (batch 2000) in Himachal Pradesh. He took early retirement in July this year to contest the Bihar assembly elections. He has a Master's degree in Police Management from Osmania University in Hyderabad. Jan Suraaj fielding a candidate in Chapra may impact the chances of both the NDA and the Mahagathbandhan, and could go in favour of either the ruling or the opposition alliance. In other words, the contest here remains unpredictable. In 2010, the BJP won the assembly elections held in six phases with a huge margin of 31.40 per cent, with Janardan Singh Sigriwal elected as an MLA, winning by a margin of 35,871 votes against RJD's Pramendra Ranjan Singh. BJP's CN Gupta won the Chapra assembly seat in 2015, making it an unusual win given that he was the first non-Yadav and non-Rajput candidate to secure victory. He won by a margin of 11,379 votes against RJD's Randhir Kumar Singh, who had won in the 2014 bypoll for the assembly constituency, taking advantage of the split in the BJP over candidacy. The Chapra seat was vacated after BJP's Janardan Singh Sigriwal became an MP in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Gupta, in 2014, was a BJP rebel candidate, as the party fielded Kanhaiya Singh, who finished third, making way for RJD's Randhir Kumar Singh. However, Gupta was fielded by the BJP in 2015 and secured a clear victory. In 2020, BJP candidate CN Gupta maintained his winning streak and defeated RJD's Randhir Singh yet again, but by a margin of merely 6,771 votes. The area's demographics are crucial to understanding the factors that will influence election results, including caste. It must be noted that the contest in Chapra since 1967 has been between various political parties, but mainly between Rajputs and Yadavs. After the delimitation, Baniyas and their sub-castes have become an important force, influencing the election outcome in the Chapra assembly seat, which has remained part of the Saran Lok Sabha constituency since 2008. The other major communities in Chapra are Rajputs, Yadavs, Muslims, and OBCs, who essentially belong to the Koeri and Kurmi castes. (ANI)
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