Gaya: For almost five decades, Ghosi in Jehanabad district was regarded as the undisputed territory of the family of Jagdish Sharma, RJD chief Lalu Prasad’s pal of pre-fodder scam days (both, along with former CM Jagnnath Mishra, were convicted in the infamous multicrore scam).
As the Sharma family conceded ground first to the JD(U) and then to CPI(ML) in 2015 and 2020 respectively, fellow Bhumihar caste-mate and former MP
Arun Kumar has entered the somewhat slippery ground to test his skills through his son Rituraj to try luck in an area once dominated by Bhumihars.
As per reports, Rituraj Kumar, the JD(U) candidate, has to battle on two fronts. First, he has to make people believe that he will take more personal care of the electorate than Sharma vis-a-vis helping people of the area in time of need like hospitalisation, admission, railway reservation or even ‘pairvi’ (recommendation) and mediation in local politics.
Also, the fact that three members of Arun Kumar’s family (son Rituraj, brother Anil and nephew Romit) are contesting the elections from three constituencies of Magadh division, has not gone down well with a section of electorate. Besides, resentment against the family’s political domination among the non-Bhumihars and to a lesser extent even among Bhumihars does not augur well for the NDA candidate.
This apart an alleged uncharitable remarks about the Bhumihars, made by JD(U) leader and minister Ashok Choudhary a few months back, has angered a large section of the NDA supporters.
On the other hand, the CPI(ML) is confident of retaining the seat with sitting MLA Ram Bali Yadav in the fray. The party leaders say that in the last election their candidate won by a big margin of nearly 18,000 votes, and matching that is a tall order.
In 2020, Yadav had defeated Sharma’s son Rahul, who fought as a JD(U) nominee.
The script of Sharma’s rise and fall was written in Ghosi, the otherwise nondescript constituency of once-violent Jehanabad district. The unbroken success of Sharma, his wife Shanti and son Rahul between 1977 and 2010 made him virtually invincible.
The Sharma family contested and won assembly elections in different capacities — as Janata Party candidate, BJP nominee, Congress candidate, Independent, JD(U) nominee, HAM(S) candidate and again JD(U). The reverse journey began when Rahul first lost the election in 2015 as a HAM(S) candidate to Krishna Nandan Verma of the JD(U), followed by his defeat in 2020.
Tasting defeat in two successive elections, the Sharma family changed both party and constituency in 2025. In this election, Rahul is contesting as an RJD candidate from Jehanabad, reportedly as his father’s proxy, as senior Sharma, on account of his conviction in the fodder scam case stands debarred from contesting election.
Meanwhile, Magadh watchers believe Arun Kumar has taken a big risk as the forward-backward divide in Ghosi is now more pronounced than in several other constituencies of the caste-ridden division.
If the Sharma family could not win in Ghosi, no other upper caste candidate can even dream of victory in the constituency, is the common refrain.
Jehanabad district itself is infamous for its caste divide. Once an epicentre of caste/class conflict, a relatively small district like Jehanabad has witnessed more related violence than any other of comparable size. The Jehanabad jail break had even hit international headlines.
On account of it being equidistant and close to Gaya, the divisional headquarters, and state capital Patna, infrastructural development, including educational institutions and healthcare, took a back seat in Ghosi. Markets too could not prosper much as the local residents mostly opt for Patna for major shopping. The ticket-less travel option was an additional attraction, say old timers.
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