Nitish Kumar’s Nalanda: Three-Time MP Kaushalendra Kumar Eyeing For A Fourth Win (image-Facebook/Kaushalendra Kumar)

Janata Dal (United) candidate Kaushalendra Kumar has been nominated to secure a fourth win in Nalanda, one of the biggest Lok Sabha seats in Bihar, and for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

Kumar won the seat for the first time in 2009. Since then, he has been maintaining the party’s stronghold over it. With over 2.5 lakh votes in 2019, he defeated his opponent, Ashok Kumar Azad of the Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular), led by Jitan Ram Manjhi. Notably, state chief minister Nitesh Kumar himself represented the seat in 2004.

Standing against him is a PhD scholar from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Sandeep Saurav, who is the candidate for the INDIA alliance. Saurav has been vocal about the rising inflation, growing unemployment, and inequalities under the Modi regime. The Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation candidate was a senior leader of the All India Students’ Association. He achieved success in his first electoral contest, winning the Paliganj assembly seat in Patna in the 2020 elections. The CPI(ML)L is contesting elections in three seats – Karakat, Nalanda, and Arrah.

The Nalanda Lok Sabha constituency comprises Vidhan Sabhas such as Asthawan, Biharsharif, Rajgir (SC), Islampur, Hilsa, Nalanda, and Harnaut. Out of the seven legislative assembly segments, five are represented by the JD(U) while the BJP and the RJD represent one each.

Although locals and even supporters complain of Kumar’s unfulfilled promises, they prefer the sitting MP. Dominated by OBC Kurmis and Bhumihars, the former represents a fourth of Nalanda’s electorate. Even though Saurav is a new face in Nalanda’s electoral scene with growing popularity, caste equations are expected to come into play. With Nitish Kumar as the popular Kurmi leader, the JD(U) candidate has high chances of securing a fourth term.