Cong’s Bhushan of a different design

NEEMA CHANDPURA (Begusarai): Wearing a printed cotton sari and sporting specs, Congress nominee from Begusarai Amita Bhushan is unlike many other seasoned politicians. Coming from a celebrated political family, her suave and sophistication makes her different. Her main rivals are sitting BJP MLA Surendra Mehta and CPM leader Rajendra Singh. The constituency will go to polls on October 12 in the first phase.On Monday night, she was found moving confidently in the remote areas of Neema Chandpura village, about 15km from Begusarai town, interacting with hundreds of villagers and seeking their votes. After doing her graduation from Delhi’s Indraprastha College, she moved to Bangalore for doing a course in fashion designing.“In fact, I still have a passion for ethnic fashion designing. I also ran a boutique shop but after the death of my mother Chandra Bhanu Devi, a former MP and former member of the Bihar Public Service Commission, in 2008, I decided to carry on the legacy of my mother,” she told TOI. Amita first started assisting in the work of her father Ramakant Chaudhary’s foundation in Begusarai. Her husband, a central government officer, has no reservations on Amita interacting with village womenfolk in the dusty dark villages of Begusarai.“My priority will be to set up a university in Begusarai. Thousands of students have to go to Darbhanga for any university-related work. Besides, I shall work for the implementation of several projects related to empowerment and education of girls,” she said.Even at the fag end of a hard day’s campaigning, Amita was smiling and seemed full of energy. She seemed to have a ready comment on any topic, be it politics or Mahagathbandhan.“I hardly take rest these days. A couple of hours sleep and I’m ready to move”, she said. Amita prefers to eat among villagers these days.Village mukhiya Nirmala Devi and her husband Surendra Sahni had all praise for Amita Bhushan. “There is no fight with didi (read Amita) in Begusarai. She represents all of us,” they said amid shouting of slogans.But the 15-km-road stretch from Begusarai to Neema Chandpura is in a very bad condition. “This road, incidentally, falls under the ‘Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana’. In fact, it is not a road but only potholes,” said a villager. The situation of power supply is not much better. “Though power supply has increased from two hours to five hours, we have made our own arrangements. The series of solar lights and battery-enabled electricity supply is a testimony to how much power is supplied from the grid,” said another villager.But Amita Bhushan sounds an incorrigible optimist when she speaks of getting improved power supply, better roads, more schools and colleges, and employment for youths of Begusarai. A confident Amita manages to take some time off from her hectic electioneering to listen to her favourite old hindi songs.