Patna Sahib’s High-Profile Candidate: BJP’s Ravi Shankar Prasad (image-Facebook/Ravi Shankar Prasad)
Former Union Minister and senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad is eyeing a second term in Bihar’s Patna Sahib Lok Sabha constituency. Having defeated actor-turned-politician Shatrughan Sinha from Congress in the 2019 elections, Prasad is an old-timer in the saffron party and a formidable opponent.
Since its electoral debut in 2009, the Patna Lok Sabha seat has been held by the BJP. First won by Sinha as the saffron party representative, the BJP won again in the 2014 elections with 4.8 lakh votes. After Sinha switched sides and joined Congress, Prasad bagged the seat with over 6 lakh votes, while Sinha only managed 3.2 lakh votes in the 2019 elections.
Having served as the Minister of Law and Justice in the Modi cabinet since 2014, Prasad’s tenure witnessed several key cases that have since become part of the history of the country. The abolishment of triple talaq, the Ayodhya debate, and the Rafale cases are some notable examples.
A student leader under Jayaprakash Narayan in the 1970s, Prasad was imprisoned during the Emergency under the rule of former PM Indira Gandhi. Notably, his father, Thakur Prasad, was also a respectable lawyer, apart from being one of the founding members of Jan Sangh, the political predecessor of the BJP.
Coming from an upper-caste Kayastha family, Prasad has also worked as the primary lawyer, arguing on a PIL against RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav in the fodder scam case. The senior advocate also defended party veteran LK Advani when he conducted the Ram Rath Yatra in 1990, which eventually led to the demolition of the Babri Masjid.
Prasad has also been credited with establishing Goa as the official venue for India’s International Film Festival. In 2012, he was elected as a Rajya Sabha MP for a third term.
Prasad will be facing INDIA alliance candidate Anshul Avijit, son of five-time MP Meira Kumar and grandson of former deputy prime minister Jagjivan Ram. Avijit has a MPhil and PhD from Cambridge. The first woman cabinet minister of the state, Sumitra Devi, is the grandmother of Congress’ national spokesperson.
The Patna Sahib Lok Sabha constituency comprises six Vidhan Sabhas, such as Digha, Kumhrar, Patna Sahib, Bakhtiarpur, Bankipur, and Fatuha. Out of the six, four are represented by the BJP, while the other two are represented by the RJD.
