Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar
Credit: PTI Photo
Hari Narayan Singh is contesting the Bihar Assembly election for the 13th time. If he wins, it will mark his record 10th victory. Singh was elected six times from the now-defunct Chandi constituency and thrice from Harnaut, which includes Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s ancestral village, Kalyan Bigha.
“Hari Narayan Singh is hardly seen around. We are not happy with him. He has done nothing. We vote for Nitish ji,” said Shambhu Paswan, a 48-year-old farmer from Kalyan Bigha.
Most villagers in Kalyan Bigha credit Nitish for the area’s development. But resentment against the local MLA is palpable. Hari Narayan Singh, 79, has represented the Harnaut Assembly constituency since 2010. With his 2020 win, he equalled the records held by Sadanand Singh and Ramai Ram.
Several JD(U) leaders had raised concerns over Singh’s candidature as early as 2020. The dissent has grown louder this time, but Nitish has once again backed the old guard.
A similar situation prevails in the neighbouring Hilsa constituency, where the JD(U) has re-nominated sitting MLA Krishnamurari Sharan, also known as Prem Mukhiya.
“After the 2020 win, Prem Mukhiya was barely seen. We don’t understand how he got the ticket again,” said Upendra Prasad from Tharthari.
A farmer from Lakhachak village, also in Hilsa, said he was unsure about voting for Prem Mukhiya.
“We want Nitish as the CM, he has done a lot for Nalanda. But we are unhappy with our MLA,” said Janardan Singh.
Hilsa saw the closest contest in the 2020 election, with JD(U)’s Prem Mukhiya defeating RJD’s Shakti Singh Yadav by just 12 votes. Yadav challenged the result in the Patna High Court. Locals still discuss claims of rigging in JD(U)’s favour.
Nalanda has been Nitish’s stronghold for over three decades. Since the mid-1990s, the Samata Party and later, the JD(U), have dominated both Lok Sabha and Assembly polls. In 2020, the JD(U) won five of the seven seats in the district, losing one to the RJD.
Four-time JD(U) MLA Sunil Kumar won the 2020 election from Bihar Sharif on a BJP ticket.
Rural Development Minister Shrawon Kumar, who is considered a close aide of Nitish Kumar, is in the fray from Nalanda for the seventh consecutive time. JD(U)’s Jitendra Kumar, a five-time MLA from Asthawan, is contesting again. The seat faces a triangular contest with RJD’s Ravi Ranjan Kumar and Jan Suraaj’s Lata Singh, daughter of Nitish’s former ally RCP Singh.
“We are unhappy with our MLA Shrawon Kumar, but we have always voted for Nitish ji. This time, it’s a tough choice,” said a shopkeeper in Noorsarai.