The Indian Express (Delhi Edition)
‘Ignored’ Vaishyas muddy waters for Anand Mohan, wife in Sheohar
AS THE cavalcade of north Bihar strongman Anand Mohan Singh and his wife Lovely Anand rolls into the Rajput-dominated village of Sonbarsha, in Tariyani block of Sheohar district, villagers greet them with enthusiasm before taking them to the shrine of local deity Patori Devi, where they claim 56 goats were sacrificed only last Dussehra. “Ask anything and she will grant it to you,” says a villager to Singh.
Lovely Anand, who was granted a ticket by the JD(U) to contest from Sheohar months after her husband was released from jail thanks to a tweak in rules by the Nitish Kumar government, may need these blessings and more to retain the Sheohar seat for the NDA.
Sheohar, which votes on May 25, was earlier held by three-term BJP MP Rama Devi, a member of the Vaishya community, who make up almost a fourth of the seat's electorate. The community, which has traditionally been sympathetic to the BJP, appears cross with the party for giving away the seat to the JD(U) and a non-vaishya.
“Modi ji chha gaye hain, lekin Sheohar ko kha gaye hain (Modiji may be omnipresent, but he has abandoned Sheohar),” says Paldhani Sah, a Vaishya trader at Dhankaul bazaar.
Another Vaishya trader in the market, Lalbabu Sah, says, “Rama Devi did not do much work, but was approachable and used to help when needed. Plus, she was from the community, so we would vote. Lovely Anand is an outsider.”
Asked if the community would go against Modi for just this reason, Lalbabu said, “Modiji is winning 400 seats. What difference will one seat make?”
What has also made the contest interesting is the RJD fielding a Vaishya, Ritu Jaiswal, the wife of a retired IAS officer, against Lovely Anand, coupled with the entry of a popular local Vaishya monk as an Independent in the poll fray.
At Madhuban chowk, businessman Shivshankar Gupta is angrier, and clearly spells out his preference for the RJD this time. “The BJP has reduced the Vaishyas to mere fund donors. But we don't get anything we want. There is already a Rajput candidate from Motihari (the adjacent constituency of Purbi Champaran). What was the need to give another seat to a Rajput? If a party is giving us a Vaishya candidate and we do not support it, nobody will field a Vaishya candidate any more,” he says.
Vijay Kumar, a Teli from Sarsaula Khurd village, is also voting for the RJD. “We will do so grudgingly, because we don't want Lovely Anand here. Woh toh babu saheb logon ki boli bolti hain (She speaks the language of upper castes),” he says.
Perhaps aware of the discontent among some voters, Lovely
Anand is working hard on her campaign, going from village to village in every Assembly segment and making sure she seeks votes from all castes and communities. On the campaign trail,
Anand Mohan himself makes calls to officials whenever a villager approaches him with a problem.
Lovely refutes charges of being an outsider and is banking on Modi's popularity to fetch her Vaishya support. “Anand Mohan ji has been an MP from Sheohar. My son, the local MLA, has got so much work done. How are we outsiders then? Also, this is an election to choose the PM... We do not do caste politics,” she says.
As Anand Mohan breaks for lunch, a member of his team brushes aside the Vaishya anger as a mere hiccup. “They will come around. They are not our captive voters anyway, but voters of Modi. One Modi rally here will change everything,” he says.
Indeed, many Vaishya voters, despite being unhappy about the non-vaishya JD(U) candidate, also say Modi might be the deciding factor for them. As Raju Sah, a Teli from Bajitpur put it: “Man mar ke, Modi ke naam par vote karenge Lovely ji ko (I'll grudgingly vote in Modi's name and choose Lovely).”
Lovely Anand also appears to enjoy complete support of the Rajput community, a significant section of OBCS and some Dalits. The RJD has its vote bank of Yadavs, Muslims and a section of Dalits intact. With Mukesh Sahani’s VIP being part of the Opposition alliance, Mallahs, who are in significant numbers in the constituency, are also supporting the party.
Lovely Anand openly attacks Lalu Prasad for Bihar’s plight and holds him responsible for her husband’s incarceration on “false charges”. Incidentally, her son Chetan Anand won the Sheohar Vidhan Sabha seat in 2020 on the RJD ticket.