In Vaishali, all eyes on Raghuvansh Prasad Singh's political future

Vaishali: In Vaishali, the political future of former union minister and Rashtriya Janata Dal’s (RJD) nominee for the Lok Sabha elections, Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, has become a common topic of discussion. Singh is being pitted against Lok Janshakti Party’s (LJP) Veena Devi.

Singh, who was the Rural Development Minister in the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) and is credited with the implementation of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), was defeated in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

Raghuvansh Babu or Barham Baba, as Singh is called by his supporters, was defeated by Rama Singh.

A five-time MP, he is talking about expanding the scope of MGNREGA if voted to power and said that efforts will be made to provide MGNREGA support to work not only on government land, but also on private land.

While Lok Janshakti Party, a National Democratic Alliance (NDA) ally, is banking on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity to wrest this seat, the supporters of Singh believe that he will win the seat because of the work he has put in as an MP.

Lallan Rai, a resident of Sahebganj, an Assembly constituency in Vaishali, told ET, “Singh is the right man in the wrong party. He is a strong voice and can very well represent the constituency in the Parliament.”

Devi is wife of JD (U) MLC Dinesh Singh. Political analysts feel that both Devi and Singh being Rajputs, there is likelihood that Devi might split Rajput votes. “Though there are 22 candidates for Vaishali, the fight is between the nominees of RJD and LJP. In 2014 Singh lost as there was split in Rajput votes,” said an analyst.