Riding LJP boat, ‘don’ fights proxy war with Lalu’s Atri Muni

HILSA (Nalanda): LJP’s Deepika, wife of Ranjit Singh alias Ranjit Don, notorious for allegedly leaking question papers of CAT, AIIMS and CBSE medical entrance examination in 2003, takes on RJD’s Atri Muni alias Shakti Singh Yadav in Hilsa assembly seat.
Don, now 50, made headlines in 2003. Born in a family owning a small piece of land at Khaddi Lodhipur village in Hilsa block, Don, a timid Bihar village school boy went on to become the man almost wiping out the reliability of India's institutions of management studies.
After languishing in jail for nearly one-and-a-half years, he unsuccessfully contested the 2004 Lok Sabha election as an Independent candidate from the Begusarai seat. In the 2005 assembly polls, the LJP had given him ticket to contest from Hilsa assembly seat. He, however, lost the election.
LJP had again fielded Don as its candidate for the biennial elections to the Legislative Council of Bihar in January this year. He was arrested by the CBI after the sensational scam was unearthed. Don, whose real name is Kumar Suman Singh, has allegedly amassed huge wealth.
“Don is fighting a proxy war with RJD candidate in his home turf with a large number of beneficiaries and supporters”, admits an unemployed local youth Kamal Narayan Singh. A graduate in political science from SIG Women’s College, Magadh University in 2003, Deepika did not pursue her studies any further and remained as an housewife.
Talking to TOI at her Hilsa residence, Deepika said no development had taken place in this assembly seat. “We want to ensure development here. This is my promise to the voters,” she said. Wearing white cotton sari, Deepika, mother of two kids, said: “There is a total absence of any drainage system in villages of Hilsa. At Parwalpur, there is no high school. Complaints of non payment of old age pension are also on the rise.”
Deepika almost covers 10 villages per day for campaigning. This time, sitting JD(U) MLA Usha Sinha was denied ticket after the seat went to the RJD quota. Dozens of swanky SUVs parked at narrow lane of her residence in the late evening shows her display of wealth.
Supporters of RJD nominee are also confidant of getting Yadav and Muslim votes. “Our votes are intact in Hilsa. There is nothing to worry about”, said Shailendra Yadav, an RJD supporter.
Don, who is also campaigning, told TOI that there is no fight in Hilsa this time. “The massive support from voters across the caste lines has made the victory of my wife certain,” he said.
BJP has made Nitish Kumar’s home district Nalanda a prestige issue this time. As many as 60 BJP cadres from Chhattisgarh are camping in Nalanda alone for the last two months. Former MLA of Belod district in Chhattisgarh, Birendra Sahu who is camping in Hilsa, said “We all are here to extend our support to NDA candidates. We are fighting on the issue of development and nothing else”.
According to political insiders, all these leaders are camping at various places in Nalanda’s seven assembly constituencies to drum up support for NDA candidates.