No easy ride for Nitish Kumar's man in Nalanda

NALANDA: It's a searing 40°C here. But that hasn't dampened vote spirits in this hillock-rimmed LS constituency. Polling is on April 17 and people are still figuring out who to vote.
This constituency, also CM Nitish Kumar's home district, is caught in a triangular contest and none is sure which way the wind is blowing. Sitting MP JD(U)'s Kaushlendra Kumar had initially thought the going would be easy because his challengers are little known — Satyanand Sharma of LJP which has an alliance with BJP and Ashish Ranjan Sinha of Congress, allied to Lalu Prasad's RJD. Today, the ride doesn't look all that smooth.

Spread over seven assembly segments with over 19 lakh voters, Nalanda is divided along caste lines, not so much on party considerations . "Kurmis will vote for Nitish. OBCs and upper castes will go for Narendra Modi," says first time voter Vikas Kumar of Surajpur village close to the Nalanda ruins.

Kumar and his friends Bikram and Rauvin are unhappy with Nitish's sushasan drive and complain that bureaucrats are a big hurdle to development. Rajendra Mahto of neighbouring Badgaon is a Nitish admirer and insists the CM has "proved his ability."

It's really between the JD(U) and LJP, Ramanand Vidyarthi, a retired headmaster says. "True, the contest is triangular, but in reality it's between them. Nitish is a vikas purush and has done a lot of work. But these elections, something has turned against him making the fi ght tough." Vidyarthi can't put a fi nger on what exactly has gone wrong, but he concludes "Nitish is no longer in a position to get his nominee elected easily." Vidyarthi is a Paswan and says the voter should assess the candidates carefully, not so much their party.

Muslims too weigh in with a lot of votes here. And eyes are on them with both JD(U) and Congress going flat out to get their support. Shahzad Kalam, a Biharsharif advocate, says Muslims are committed to vote for the candidate who can defeat the BJP-backed LJP candidate. "Imam Bukhari's appeal has backfired and Muslims will vote JD(U). They feel only Nitish's candidate can halt Modi's march," he claimed. Retired pharmacist Mohammed Shafi Ahmad of Panhesar village agrees. "Muslim have by and large united behind JD(U), even though some sympathise with Lalu."