Which way will Araria swing? Looking for signs at the birthplaces of its famous sons

The last of the Seemanchal seats set to go to polls, the story of the election in Araria in north Bihar that votes on Tuesday lies in its two famous landmarks linked to figures, almost a generation apart, who were voices of the region in their own way, one a pioneering writer and the other a strongman-politician.

The first is the village of legendary Hindi writer Fanishwarnath Renu, Aurahi-Hingana in Forbesganj, and the second is the Jokihat subdivision, about an hour away, that was the home of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Mohammed Taslimuddin, a former Araria MP who influenced the region’s politics for five decades till his death in 2017.

Amid the backdrop of Renu’s thatched house, his youngest son Dakhineshwar Roy, talks of politics and literature. He recalls how his father, a pioneering novelist known for works such as Maila Anchal and Juloos, contested the 1972 Assembly elections from Forbesganj as an Independent and badly lost. “After the defeat, he said, ‘That a new pair of shoes is experienced only after walking in those shoes.’”

Though Renu never tried politics again, his elder son Padma Parag Venu successfully contested from Forbesganj as a BJP nominee in the 2010 Assembly polls. Dakshineshwar too nurses political ambitions and has his eye on contesting the Assembly elections next year from Forbesganj. While Renu was a socialist by temperament, his sons preferred to join the Hindu right-wing. Their political choice mirrors how the BJP slowly consolidated itself in the region over the decades.

“Renu is a great symbol we hardly encashed as sons. But we cannot wait any longer. I wish to contest not just because I am his son but because our caste, EBC (Extremely Backward Class) Dhanuk, plays a key role in deciding