How Sushant Singh Rajput's legacy is shaping a Left candidate's Bihar Assembly election bid in Patna

Punaichak/Patna: A young woman from the group announces over a loudspeaker: “Aapka button kahan dabega, tean taara jahan rahega.” It’s 8am on a Wednesday. With a hint of October sniff in the air, this group of women – with a few men scattered here and there – fan out through Punaichak, an urban neighborhood in Digha, in search of votes for Divya Gautam for the upcoming Bihar assembly elections. Divya (34) is the CPI(ML) Liberation candidate for the Digha seat in Patna, which will go to the polls on November 6 – the first of the two election phases. The second phase is scheduled for November 11. The results will be announced on November 14. The poll symbol of the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation (CPI-ML Liberation) in Bihar is a flag with three stars. The party is a state-recognised party in Bihar, which entitles it to a reserved symbol in the state As Divya, her neck draped in flower garlands, walks past rows of houses, she gestures to the overflowing, uncovered drains. “These are the real issues here,” she told this reporter while campaigning. What is Sushant Singh Rajput’s connection? Divya, a theater artiste and former All India Students’ Association (AISA) leader, is also a cousin of the late Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput. Although Divya tried to stay away from the link, she is proud of what the ‘Kai Po Che’ actor, who died on June 14, 2020 at his Bandra residence, achieved in life. As Divya, her neck draped in flower garlands, walks past rows of houses, she gestures towards the overflowing, uncovered drains “We couldn’t imagine that anyone would make it this big in Bollywood. That’s what makes us proud, and that’s what matters,” says Divya. Divya, Bhavya and Prerna, daughters of Sushant’s mother, Usha’s brother, Bhupendra Kumar Singh, are the three cousins ​​with whom Sushant grew up in Patna. Divya met Sushant in 2019 when he last visited Patna, his hometown. Sushant’s death case was transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation (SBI) at the insistence of the family. Almost five years after Sushant’s death, the CBI submitted the closure report in March 2025 and cleared Rhea Chakraborty and other accused individuals named in the FIR. “He got there through his own hard work, not because of nepotism. I draw inspiration from him – which shows that dedication and effort can bring real change. He is my brother, and I am proud of him. As an artist, I will continue my theater work while keeping his memory alive,” says Divya as she moves to the next leg of her campaign on Wednesday afternoon. Who is Divya Gautam? Born in Saharsa, Divya studied journalism at Patna College, where she was active in theater and cultural groups. She lost the Patna University Students’ Union elections in 2012 as a candidate of the AISA. The same year, she was a part of ‘Bekhauf Azaadi’, a street play on women’s safety after the Delhi Gangrape case in 2012. Divya also completed a Masters in Women’s Studies from TISS, Hyderabad. She served as an assistant professor at Patna Women’s College and also worked as a stock inspector in the food and consumer protection department of the Bihar government before quitting. Divya acted in Italian playwright Dario Fo’s plays while pursuing her PhD on ‘Caste, class and masculinity in Bhojpuri stardom’ from BITS Pilani. Divya met Sushant in 2019 when he last visited Patna, his hometown. Divya has been an active member of Left cultural groups for some time. She is known as a theater artist, academic and activist before she entered the assembly’s polls this year. While Sushant is her first inspiration, Gautam is also inspired by Iranian filmmaker Majid Majidi, whose famous movie Children of Heaven had an impact on her life. How did Digha vote in the past? Famous for its mango orchards during the British era, Digha is one of the 14 seats in the Patna district, which falls under the Patna Sahib Lok Sabha constituency, represented by the BJP since 2009, first by Shatrughan Sinha for two terms and now by Ravi Shankar Prasad. Consisting of six panchayats and 14 wards, Digha is Bihar’s largest assembly constituency, with 400 booths and around 4 lakh voters. Digha, which is dominated by the Kayastha caste, has been an NDA stronghold since 2010. Janata Dal United’s Punam Devi won in 2010, with 62 percent of the vote. Since then, Sanjeev Chaurasiya of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has won this seat in two consecutive elections. Chaurasiya won the seat in 2015 when JD-U was not an NDA partner. He then defeated JD-U’s Rajeev Ranjan Prasad by over 35,000 votes. In 2020, Chaurasiya secured 57 percent of the votes, defeating the CPI(ML) L candidate Shashi Yadav, who got around 30 percent of the votes for the seat. Who is Divya up against? Divya is up against Sanjeev this time, besides Ritesh Ranjan Singh alias Bittu Singh of Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraaj party. “There is some resentment against sitting MLA Chaurasiya. Prashant Kishor’s party also opposed Bittu Singh, who wanted a BJP ticket. Bittu could damage Chaurasiya’s chances,” Vikram said. As Divya meets people, she discusses topics like drainage, cleanliness, health and education. She also discusses women’s rights. “They think they can buy women by giving ₹10,000. What about the urban women who have to depend on their male members to get by,” she said when asked about women-centric schemes by the incumbent Nitish Kumar-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government. The CPI (ML) Liberation is part of the opposition alliance ‘Mahagathbandhan’ in Bihar, which also comprises the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Congress. In the 2020 Bihar assembly elections, the party won 12 seats. It also won two Lok Sabha seats from Bihar in the 2024 general election. We couldn’t imagine that anyone would make it this big in Bollywood. And we all know he got there on his own. That’s what makes us proud and that’s what matters. The party has fielded 20 candidates for the upcoming Bihar assembly elections and nominated all 12 of its sitting MPs. “She spoke about real issues. She comes across as educated women who have good ideas. But as you know, Digha is an urban seat and we know where urban voters of Patna have voted in the last many elections,” said Vikram Anand, a local businessman in the Digha assembly.