BJP replied to Lalu’s jibe with ‘Modi ka parivar’ campaign, but in Bihar, it’s all one big happy family

Of the 11 descendants of political families in the Bihar race from the NDA ticket, four belong to the BJP — including sitting Madhubani MP Hukumdev Narayan Yadav’s son Ashok Yadav, who is in the fray from the seat; former state BJP chief Sanjay Jaiswal, renominated from the West Champaran seat, who is the son of former MP Madan Jaiswal; Sushil Kumar Singh, who is the son of ex-MP Ram Naresh Singh, who has been renominated from Aurangabad; and Vivek Thakur, the son of former MP C P Thakur, standing from Nawada.

A BJP leader conceded that the NDA cannot really go hammer and tongs at the Opposition over the “parivarvaad” plank. “We have to be cautious now,” the leader said.

The JD(U)’s list of dynasts includes former minister Vaidyanath Mahato’s son Sunil Kumar, former MP Anand Mohan’s wife Lovely Anand and former MLA Ramesh Kushwaha’s wife Vijaylakshmi Devi — contesting from Valmiki Nagar, Sheohar and Siwan, respectively.

A senior JD(U) leader said the nepotism issue does not have much traction now. “Some non-performing dynasts will be rejected while the deserving ones will win,” the leader said.

The party with the maximum share of scions of political families in its list is by far the Lok Janshakti Party (Ramvilas), with four of its five candidates sharing the connection. The party is headed by former Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan’s son Chirag Paswan, who will contest from his father’s bastion from Hajipur. His brother-in-law Arun Bharati is in the fray from Jamui. Former Bihar minister Ashok Kumar Choudhary’s daughter and ex-Congress minister Mahavir Choudhary’s granddaughter Sambhavi Choudhury is the LJP (Ramvilas) candidate from Samastipur while JD(U) MLC Dinesh Singh’s wife Veena Devi is the party’s pick from Vaishali.

Chirag defended his decision, saying being a relative of a politician does not mean an individual should not be given a chance in politics. “Ultimately, it is the people who decide the fate of the candidates,” he said.

The INDIA bloc – comprising primarily the RJD, Congress and Left — is yet to name all its candidates, but already five of its ticket holders are kin of MPs and legislators.

The most prominent “dynasts” in the INDIA bloc are Lalu’s daughters Misa Bharti and Rohini Acharya, who are in the fray from Pataliputra and Saran respectively. The upcoming polls will be Misa’s third attempt at winning Pataliputra, having lost to the BJP’s Ram Kripal Yadav in the last two elections. Rohini is making her debut from the seat her father has represented multiple times in the past.

The other political scions in the race from the INDIA side include the RJD candidate for Gaya, Kumar Sarvjeet, who is the son of former MP Rajesh Kumar. Sources said veteran socialist leader and former Union minister Sharad Yadav’s son Shantanu Bundela may be the party’s choice from Madhepura.

The Congress, which is the BJP’s prime target when it comes to parivarvaad, may field former Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar’s son Anshul Kumar from Patna Saheb, where the NDA candidate is former Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad.