Why is BJP pitting Satish Yadav, who has failed repeatedly, against Tejashwi in Raghopur?

The election battle in Bihar is gradually becoming clear. All eyes are on some high-profile seats in the state, where big faces are contesting. Rashtriya Janata Dal leader and former deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav is contesting from the Raghopur seat in Vaishali district, and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has fielded a candidate who has lost two consecutive elections. Overall, this is the fifth consecutive contest between Lalu Prasad Yadav and Satish Kumar Yadav on Raghopur seat. BJP has fielded its old enemy Satish Kumar Yadav to contest from Raghopur seat, which is an important constituency for the Lalu Prasad Yadav family. The special thing is that Satish Yadav used to be in Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD). After quitting RJD, he joined Janata Dal United (JDU) and then Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2015. Similar story for the third consecutive election: Like Tejashwi, Satish also belongs to the Yadav community, and this is a Yadav-dominated area. He was close to Lalu family. However, due to political reasons, he left RJD and joined JDU. BJP made the contest exciting by fielding Satish for the third consecutive time against Tejashwi Yadav from Raghopur. Raghopur seat has been dominated by Lalu family since 1995. After that, the then MLA Uday Narayan Rai vacated the seat for Lalu Yadav. Lalu won this election. Then, in 2000, Lalu won again. However, this time he contested from two seats and won both. He left Raghopur seat for Danapur seat. As a result, when the by-election was held, he fielded his wife Rabri Devi, who won. Rabri’s hat-trick of wins, then defeat. When elections were held in February 2005, Rabri Devi won again, but no one got a majority in the assembly, due to which the assembly was dissolved. When elections were held again later that year in October–November, Rabri Devi achieved a hat-trick of victories here. The campaign of Lalu and Rabri Devi was one-sided, both won easily. Before the 2010 elections, the political environment changed. Satish Kumar Yadav joined JDU. Lalu’s party, RJD, has once again fielded Rabri Devi, pitting her against JDU candidate Satish. There was a stiff competition between the two. Satish created a sensation by defeating Lalu’s wife and former Bihar Chief Minister Rabri Devi by over 13,000 votes. Satish was angry with Tejashwi contesting elections from Raghopur. But five years later, when the assembly elections were held in Bihar, the politics of the country changed completely. Narendra Modi’s era began at the centre. In a bid to save his party from the Modi wave in Bihar, Nitish Kumar put aside his old bitter relations with Lalu and became part of the Grand Alliance. Meanwhile, Lalu decided to launch his son Tejashwi. In 2015, Lalu got his traditional Raghopur seat right to launch his son Tejashwi and he took it from JDU. As a result, Satish was expelled and he revolted. Satish joined BJP and entered the fray to save his Raghopur seat. But because of Lalu’s image, Tejashwi won the election unilaterally. Tejashwi managed to win by more than 22,000 votes. What do the equations say in the fortress of Yadavas? Ahead of the 2020 elections, Nitish Kumar’s party, JDU, left the grand alliance and rejoined the NDA. But this seat went to BJP’s account, and the party once again expressed confidence in Satish. Overall, this was Satish’s fourth consecutive match against the Lalu family. Tejashwi was also victorious in this battle. He won the election by a margin of 38,000 votes, which means an increase in his margin compared to previous elections. BJP has adopted its old strategy for the third consecutive time on Raghopur seat. This means that Satish is going to challenge Tejashwi again. In the Yadav bastion, it is once again a Yadav versus Yadav contest. The population of Yadavs in Raghopur seat of Vaishali district is around 32 percent. Apart from this, the Rajput community also has a sizeable population here. Rajputs are 19 percent, while Dalits are 18 percent. Apart from these, 6 percent are Paswan, 3 percent are Brahmins and the same number are Muslims. BJP has repeatedly fielded Satish Kumar Yadav from the Raghopur seat with the aim of tapping the vote bank of the Yadav community. He is believed to have a good influence among the Yadavas. Apart from this, if BJP gets the votes of Rajputs, Dalits and especially Paswan community, Satish can still win from here. The fact that he defeated Rabri Devi once in the elections also works in Satish’s favour.