For the 37-year-old Congress candidate Luv Sinha, Bollywood star and former union minister Shatrughan Sinha was the star campaigner in almost every other part of Bihar except the Bankipore assembly constituency itself, from where Luv is a candidate.
On Monday, personal contacts and door-to-door campaigns were conducted in the Bankipore assembly constituency, which is considered to be a high-profile area with residences of the doctors, lawyers, professors and leading traders and businessmen.
Shatrughan Sinha, who had returned from campaigning in Gaya and other parts of the state, canvassed for his son from his Kadamkuan residence, which is close to the residence of the late Jayaprakash Narayan. His neighbours include deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi.
For two days, the chief ministerial candidate of the Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance), Tejaswhi Prasad Yadav, was the biggest crowd-puller in Bankipore and not Shatrughan. Yadav also participated in a roadshow in the area to woo the voters. The Jr. Sinha was seen seeking votes in Dak Bungalow, the main central market of Patna.
Poonam Sinha, Luv's mother, feels Tejaswhi has crowd-pulling capacity. Luv said he was in Patna to further improve conditions in Bankipore, which lacked even a drainage system. Dressed in the traditional politician’s dress, Luv said he had been visiting Patna since 2009, when Shatrughan Sinha had contested the Lok Sabha elections as a BJP candidate.
“Yahan hamara ghar hai, main aata rahunga” (We have our home here, I will keep coming here after the elections too). Luv said he wanted to keep the political legacy of his father in Patna continued.
They have their ancestral house at the Kadamkuan area of the state capital.
His constituency is widespread and includes the Patna University and the Patliputra University colleges, the Patna Medical College, Muslim-populated areas of Bakarganj, Sabzibagh, Pirmuhani etc.
Though Shatrughan and mother Poonam campaigned for Luv, his film actress sister Sonakshi Sinha did not come to canvass support for her brother.
Through Luv Sinha, Congress has made an attempt to make inroads into the BJP stronghold and a section of the BJP support base. Luv received the support of the disgruntled party leaders, led by the former member of the National Commission for Women (NCW) and ex-president of the women's wing of the BJP, Ms Suishma Sahu, who rebelled against her party.
Sushma had filed her nomination papers, which were rejected by the returning officer. She is from Dariyapur Gola area of the constituency, which has a sizable population of businessmen.
Against him in the polls, Luv Sinha faces the three-term BJP MLA Nitin Navin and the Plurals Party chief and London School of Economics MA Pushpam Priya Chaudhry.
