Hasanpur, Oct 31: He relinquished Mahua and shifted to "safe" seat of Hasanpur assembly segment, but the gamble seems tough for Lalu Prasad's elder son Tej Pratap Yadav who is pitted against a formidable JD(U) sitting legislator.
Hasanpur seat is located in the Samastipur district of Bihar but comes under the Khagaria Lok Sabha constituency.
Tej Pratap Yadav, who had plunged into electoral politics winning from Mahua assembly constituency in Vaishali district in 2015 elections, left it this time and chose to enter into the fray from the Hasanpur seat.
It is said in the political circles that he had to move out of Mahua because of the possibility of his estranged wife challenging him there in the election. Mahua is located near the Parsa assembly segment, a bastion of his wife Aishwarya Rai's father Chandrika Roy's family.
Tej Pratap and Aishwarya's marriage was in trouble within six months of them tying the nuptial knot in May 2018.
Their marital dispute case is pending with a Patna Family Court. The fear was not untrue, as Aishwarya is seen going to the people of the Parsa constituency and raking up "ill-treatment" meted out to her by Lalu Prasad's family and seeking justice for her.
But the outing to Hasanpur appears to be no cakewalk for Prasad's maverick son.
Though it is a Yadav-dominated constituency, Tej Pratap's principal rival Raj Kumar Rai of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's party JD(U) who belongs to the same caste is holding the seat since 2010.
There are a total of eight candidates contesting for the seat which will go to vote in the second phase on November 3. The Janadhikar Party (JAP) of former Madhepura MP and an influential Yadav politician Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav has also fielded his candidate Arjun Yadav for the seat.
Realising that the journey is arduous, Tej Pratap is working hard and leaving nothing to chance. He is campaigning in the constituency since the filing of nomination on October 13. The RJD leader is using all the trick up his sleeve to match the style of his charismatic politician father for a better connect with the voters.
He is seen playing cricket with the youngsters during campaigning, riding a tractor in a field, playing the flute and eating 'litti-chokha' (famous Bihari food) with the people.
Though the Yadav votes are the deciding factor, Muslims and other Backward castes like Kushwahas and Nishads (fishermen) also have a significant presence.
As per the voter list of 2019, there are 2,74,252 electorates in Hasanpur. Yadavs constitute nearly 65,000 of the total voters, while Muslims electorate are at 25,000. Forward-caste count is around 20,000 while Paswans strength is around 18,000, Kushwahas at 16,000 and Extremely Backward Castes at 13,000.
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