BJP fields RSS man in Dinara, fuels speculation on CM face

DINARA (Rohtas): With BJP fielding Rajendra Prasad Singh, a man with strong RSS roots, from Dinara constituency in Rohtas district, grapevine is rife in political circles that he may be the NDA’s CM face for Bihar. Singh is locked against a direct fight with cooperative minister Jayakumar Singh.
Of late, Sasaram, the district headquarters of Rohtas, has become a ‘mini Nagpur’ with a large number of RSS cadres from Maharashtra town camping here to drum up support for Singh.
Singh’s selection came as a surprise as very few organising general secretaries of RSS have jumped into the poll fray. “The post of organising secretary is considered an important link between the BJP and the RSS,” said an RSS cadre. Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar is among the few who joined electoral politics after holding the post of organising general secretary.
“Singh is originally a product of ABVP. He worked as organising secretary of ABVP's Kanpur unit. He also served as organising general secretary of BJP in Kashi and Awadh regions of Uttar Pradesh,” said a local BJP leader.
A law graduate from Allahabad degree college, Singh, a resident of Gaura village under Kochas block in Rohtas district, is considered an ‘outsider’ by the locals. “He is new to us, but we came to know from BJP leaders during their speech that he would get a ‘special post’ if NDA came to power in the state. So it would be a matter of pride for us if our neta holds important post (read CM),” said Satish Chaturvedi, a teacher.
Singh’s stature can be judged from the fact that Jharkhand CM Raghuvar Das had to wait for him for nearly two hours when he was supposed to file the nomination paper on September 24. According to RSS sources, till date at least 35 MPs from Jharkhand, UP, Bihar and Rajasthan and more than 12 union ministers have visited Dinara for campaigning.
On the other hand, cooperative minister Jayakumar Singh, 46, a civil engineer from College of Engineering and Technology, Bijapur (Karnataka), is also leaving no stone unturned to emerge victorious. “In this battle of titans, local issues are completely missing. Non-payment of arrears to paddy farmers is a major issue here,” said Jagdish Mahto, a paddy farmer and resident of Bhaluni village.