Patna: Surging ambitions to make it to the Parliament have literally divided many families in Bihar in this poll season.
In some cases while the wife is seeking votes in the name of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, the husband is rattling out the achievements of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad to ensure he comes out victorious.
If the hubby goes for canvassing, seeking to install Narendra Modi as the next prime minister of India, his spouse seeks votes for Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar.
Politics has reached new heights in the state where personal ambition matters more than ideology.
A perfect case in point is that of the family of Bihar muscleman Pappu Yadav, the former parliamentarian who only recently was acquitted by Patna High Court in the 16 year-old murder case involving the assassination of a firebrand Left leader Ajit Sarkar. While Yadav is seeking votes in the name of RJD chief Prasad, his wife Ranjita Ranjan is banking on the popularity of Sonia Gandhi.
The RJD has fielded Yadav from Madhepura seat whereas Ranjan is contesting on Congress party ticket from Supaul seat. Both have represented the respective seats in the past.
Almost similar is the story of Kushwaha family which has a long political history. Until last week, Vijay Singh Kushwaha was associated with Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) but, during a BJP rally at Purnia, he joined the saffron party in the presence of Modi. A week into his new home, Kushwaha has now been fielded from the Madhepura seat. On the other hand, his wife Renu Kushwaha is in the JD-U. She resigned as the industry minister in the Nitish Kumar government only at the weekend but claims she will campaign for the JD-U.
No less curious is the case of another Yadav couple, who hail from Khagaria. Strongman Ranbir Yadav, whose name inspires terror in the region, had been fervently seeking a Lok Sabha ticket for any of his two wives from Bihar chief minister Kumar but his demands went unattended.
While his first wife Poonam Devi Yadav is a JD-U lawmaker, the second wife Krishna Kumari Yadav currently happens to be the chairman of the Khagaria District Board. In a curious twist in the tale, Yadav’s second wife has been fielded as a Lok Sabha candidate from the Khagaria seat. While Yadav campaigns for his second wife, an RJD nominee, his other spouse and JD-U lawmaker canvasses for her party candidate.
Yet another similar story comes from the family of late Satyendra Narayan Singh, Member of the first Parliament and former Bihar chief minister. At present, his son and former Kerala governor Nikhil Kumar has been fielded by the Congress party from southern Bihar’s Aurangabad seat, whereas his brother-in-law Uday Kumar Singh is a BJP candidate from Purnia. What is more interesting is that till last month, the BJP candidate’s younger brother NK Singh had represented the JD-U in the Rajya Sabha, the Upper House of the parliament.
