In Bihar’s ‘Red land’, CPM back in LS poll race after 30 years, NDA’s lone Muslim MP now with it

As one enters the market in Khagaria in central Bihar, a sea of red flags immediately catches the eye. Though the Left, part of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD)-led Mahagathbandhan, is a marginal player in Bihar politics, it is making its presence felt this Lok Sabha election in the Khagaria-Begusarai belt.

The CPI(M) is in the fray in Khagaria, contesting a parliamentary election in the state for the first time since 1991 and the CPI is attempting to win neighbouring Begusarai that was once referred to as the “Leningrad of Bihar” because of its active Communist movement from the late 1950s to the late 1990s. The CPI (ML) is contesting from the Nawada, Ara, and Karakat constituencies.

In Khagaria, which goes to polls on May 7 in the third phase, the battle is between the CPI(M)’s Sanjay Kumar and the Chirag Paswan-led Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) candidate Rajesh Verma. Apart from local issues, Kumar, who is from the OBC Kushwaha community, is banking on support from the Muslims and Yadavs, the RJD’s traditional M-Y vote bank. The aim of the Mahagathbandhan here is to get a major chunk of the votes of Kushwahas, the third-most populous group in the constituency. If the CPI(M) receives 50-60% of the community’s support, the formidable M-Y-K social coalition will be enough to push Kumar past the finish line. Of Khagaria’s approximately 18 lakh voters, an estimated three lakh are Muslims, followed by 2.5 lakh Yadav voters, and a lakh each from the Kushwaha and Mallah communities. Mallahs are categorised as an Extremely Backward Class (EBC).

Fighting in Kumar’s corner and expected to bring in the Muslim vote is incumbent MP Choudhary Mehboob Ali Kaiser, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance’s (NDA) lone Muslim