Chetan and Ajit carry family legacies into Bihar battle

Two Rajput candidates in two regions are contesting elections for their political survival, but their profiles could not be more different. One is battling the legacy of a ‘don’ and the other is following the footsteps of a man who has never compromised on his ideology.

Chetan Anand, son of former MP and don-turned-politician Anand Mohan, is contesting from the Nabinagar Assembly seat in Aurangabad district which falls under the Magadh region on a Janata Dal (United) ticket.

Ajit Kumar, son of Jagdanand Singh, former Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) state unit president and known as man of his words, is contesting from Ramgarh in Kaimur in the Shahabad region from the RJD.

Mr. Anand, who won the 2020 Assembly election on an RJD ticket from Sheohar, changed his loyalty and joined the camp of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar during the trust vote in the Assembly last year.

That time, the Opposition had accused the Nitish Kumar government of tweaking the rule of the jail manual to facilitate the release of Anand Mohan who was serving a life sentence for the murder of former District Magistrate of Gopalganj G. Krishnaiah. He was released in April 2023 along with 26 other prisoners.

It is believed that to honour Mr. Kumar for the release of his father, Mr. Chetan had joined the ruling camp to save the government during the trust vote. However, he has been shifted to Nabinagar which was once represented by his mother Lovely Anand way back in 1996.

The 33-year-old JD(U) candidate has the support of his father who is aggressively campaigning for his son and making door-to-door visits to seek votes.

Nabinagar had given Bihar its first Deputy Chief Minister in Anugrah Narayan Sinha who also served the State’s Finance Minister in 1952. Later, his son Satyendra Narayan Sinha contested from this seat and became the Chief Minister in 1989 from the Congress. This time, the RJD has replaced its winning candidate Vijay Kumar Singh and has fielded Amod Kumar Singh from the seat.

Mr. Chetan, who was campaigning in Bairia village under Pipra Panchayat along with his wife Ayushi Singh, a doctor, said he is proud of his legacy. “My father is my support and backbone. The kind of love I am getting from the people of Nabinagar is due to the good work done by my father and mother,” he said.

Asked about the reason for leaving the RJD, Mr. Chetan said, “You have seen what the RJD has done with the sitting candidate. When the question will be raised on self-respect and dignity, I will never compromise. The RJD leaders used to speak ill about my father, so I had no other option left.”

In Nabinagar, Rajputs comprise a large chunk of voters followed by Scheduled Caste voters. Hoping to get the support of Rajput voters, Mr. Chetan is giving more time in visiting the villages where SC voters are in large numbers. At Bairia, he touched the feet of the people and enquired if their families have received ₹10,000 under the Chief Minister’s employment scheme and 125 units of free electricity.

Unlike his father, Mr. Chetan is soft-spoken and does not lose his cool. Having completed his schooling from Welham Boy’s School, Dehradun, he went on to get a bachelor’s degree from Symbiosis International University, Pune. 

On the other hand, 45-year-old Mr. Ajit, the youngest son of Mr. Jagdanand, is leaving no stone unturned to win the Ramgarh seat, bordering Uttar Pradesh. He tasted defeat in last year’s bypoll against the Bharatiya Janata Party candidate Ashok Kumar Singh.

Mr. Ajit’s father has represented this seat six times since 1985 until he became an MP from Buxar in 2009. An engineer with a degree from Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra, Ranchi, he now runs a private school in Ramgarh.

The leader expressed confidence about winning the seat asserting that this election is different from bypoll and he has changed his approach and strategy. “Past remains past and everyone learns and works to become better. I have done the same. Earlier, I never gave importance to social media and remained reluctant. Now, I have understood that for visibility, one has to take help of social media to reach your voters,” he said while campaigning in Durgawati Bazar in Ramgarh.

Once a Naxal-affected area, Ramgarh has agricultural lands and industries. Rajput voters comprise the largest block at 21% and the other castes that determine the fate of the candidate include Dalits, Yadavs and Muslims.

Despite his father’s legacy, Mr. Ajit said that he is not a product of dynasty politics and noted that when his father vacated the seat, it was given to a party worker twice.

“I have been working in Ramgarh for more than 15 years. There was a time when I campaigned against my brother while holding the flag of another party and those people are now contesting against me,” he said. 

Ramesh Ram, a shopkeeper at Durgawati Bazar, said the sitting MLA, Mr. Ashok Kumar, hardly visits the area, but the new candidate looks promising.