North India Statesman
News India Live, Digital Desk: The political chessboard for Bihar Assembly elections 2025 has already started to be laid and Sugauli Assembly seat of East Champaran seems to be becoming a ‘hot seat’ this time. Here, the Grand Alliance, especially the Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), are working on a new strategy to break into the strong fort of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The market of discussions is hot that this time from Sugauli Shyam Kishore Chaudhary There can be joint candidates of the Grand Alliance.
The news of Shyam Kishore Chaudhary’s candidature has created a stir in the political equations of Sugauli. He is considered close to VIP’s ‘Son of Mallah’ Mukesh Sahni and also has the support of RJD’s local leadership.
Who is Shyam Kishore Chaudhary?
Shyam Kishore Chaudhary is a local leader of Sugauli and has been active in the area for a long time. He is associated with the VIP party and is continuously making inroads among the people through social work. His image is that of a militant and grassroots leader, which makes him popular among the local public.
Why does the Grand Alliance want to corner BJP in Sugauli?
Sugauli assembly seat has traditionally been considered a stronghold of BJP. Engineer Shashi Bhushan Singh of BJP is the MLA from here, who had won the last election by defeating RJD candidate.
- Caste equation: This area is considered to be dominated by upper caste voters, especially Rajput voters, who are the core voters of BJP. Apart from this, there is also a sizeable number of Vaishya, Mallah, Yadav and Muslim voters here, who can turn the tide of any election.
- Grand alliance plan: The strategy of the Grand Alliance is to exploit this ‘MY’ (Muslim-Yadav) equation and add extremely backward (EBC) votes, especially Mallah votes to it. Shyam Kishore Choudhary, who himself comes from a strong social base, fits into this strategy. If Mukesh Sahni’s ‘Mallah’ vote bank and RJD’s traditional MY vote bank unite, then saving this seat will become a big challenge for BJP.
Will Shyam Kishore Choudhary be able to compete?
Shyam Kishore Chaudhary’s claim is also strengthened by the fact that he has been continuously raising the issues of the area, such as floods, erosion and unemployment. VIP and RJD believe that only the right coordination of caste equations along with a strong local face can stop BJP’s victory chariot in Sugauli.
However, this seat is also a question of prestige for BJP. MLA Shashi Bhushan Singh has his own hold and BJP gets a big vote share in the name of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Overall, the battle for the next assembly elections in Sugauli is going to be very interesting. Only time will tell whether Shyam Kishore Chaudhary, Mukesh Sahni and RJD will be able to break through this strong fort of BJP with the support of RJD. But it is certain that the discussion of his candidature has definitely increased the concerns of the BJP camp.
