‘Sympathy’ votes set to decide winner in first President’s home town

Jitendra Kumar Shrivastava

tribune news service

Jiradei, October 31

In the crucial fourth phase polling tomorrow, the electorate appears to cast their votes on ‘sympathy’ ignoring the issues of caste and development in Jiradei constituency of Siwan district from where Mohammad Shahabuddin had registered his first victory for legislative assembly seat from jail.

“Despite lack of development in our areas, we are with the BJP candidate whose son had been shot down at her home during Lalu’s regime,” says Jiradei’s octogenarian farmer Praful Kumar Verma.

The BJP has fielded its sitting legislature Asha Devi from Jiradei, while JD-U candidate Ramesh Singh Kushwaha is giving her a tough fight. Asha’s son and servant had been gunned down at her home when the reign of terror of Mohammad Shahabuddin was at its peak in 90s. She won the seat on BJP ticket in 2005 for the first time and continued her victory march in 2010 too as she gets vote of ‘sympathy’.

Another Jiradei resident Mahatama Bhai, who had participated in the JP movement said: “Jiradei is the sacred land of first Indian President Dr Rajendra Prasad who was more scholar than politician or socialist but his motherland missed a constituent degree college yet. Promises were made by politicians for the sake of garnering votes, but nothing materialised.”

While the dominance Kushwahas is rife in this constituency, but they are divided — one supports CPM and other is inclined towards the NDA. Leaders of CPM waged a war against the ‘reign of terror’ of Shahabuddin and its candidate Amarjeet Kushwaha is striving hard to make the fight triangular in Jiradei to be voted tomorrow.