The Bankipore Assembly seat in Patna district is witnessing a triangular contest this time. While the Congress party has fielded actor-turned-politician Shatrughan Sinha's son Luv, the BJP has renominated its sitting MLA Nitin Navin. Pushpam Priya Chaudhary of the Plurals party is also in the fray making the contest as one of the most keenly observed.
Bankipore is a part of the Patna Sahib Lok Sabha constituency and is considered a BJP stronghold. The Congress is banking heavily on Shatrughan Sinha's popularity to change its fortunes. The parliamentary seat had twice elected Shatrughan in 2009 and 2014 but as a BJP member.
In the 2019 elections, Shatrughan, 74, contested as a Congress candidate and lost the seat to BJP's Ravi Shankar Prasad. The constituency has a sizeable population of Kayasthas. Caste plays an important role in the choice of candidates.
Luv had a short-lived career in the film industry. He is the third from his family to contest elections. While his father was elected from Patna Sahib parliamentary seat, his mother Poonam unsuccessfully contested the 2019 general elections on the Samajwadi Party's ticket from Lucknow against BJP's Rajnath Singh.
Pushpam Priya Choudhary is a new entrant in Bihar's politics. She launched her party -- Plurals, in March this year. She had released a two-page advertisement in multiple Hindi and English newspapers with a caption "Bihar deserves better, and better is possible". She is also the chief ministerial candidate of her party.
Nitin Navin, on the other hand, is a three-time MLA. He is the son of veteran BJP leader Nabin Kishore Sinha. A social activist, he was also the BJYM's national general secretary.
Bankipore will go to polls in the second phase on November 3. The results will be declared on November 10.
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