Patna: After a tough contest in six phases, it appears that NDA and grand alliance are locked in a neck to neck fight in the remaining last two phases of polls.
Stakes are high for the BJP in the seventh phase as the party’s veteran leader Ravi Shankar Prasad has been pitted against his former colleague and Congress leader Shatrughan Sinha in Patna Sahib Constituency.
On Saturday BJP Chief Amit Shah flanked by the party’s nominee for the Patna Sahib constituency held a massive roadshow and urged people to vote for the NDA.
“Be sure that the NDA will be in a better position this time and Narendra Modi will return as Prime Minister after the polls. As far as Patna Sahib is concerned our party’s candidate Ravi Shankar Prasad is going to win this time”, BJP Chief Amit Shah said.
Shatrughan Sinha had quit the BJP and joined the Congress earlier this year after he was sidelined in the party. Patna Sahib is considered a BJP’s fort as it has five out of six MLAs in the constituency. However, political analysts are of the opinion that caste factor may also play a decisive role in the constituency as both the leaders belong to upper caste Kayastha community.
Patna Sahib is seen as a traditional Kayastha seat where the caste has around 25 percent voter base. According to political analysts here, the Patna Sahib constituency has traditionally seen a fight between BJP and Congress. In 2014 Shatrughan Sinha had won elections by defeating Congress nominee Kunal Singh, a veteran Bhojpuri film actor by a record margin of 2,65,805 votes.
He had bagged 4, 85,905 votes while Kunal Singh, a Congress nominee had secured 2, 20,100 votes.
BJP leaders said that people were upset with Shatrughan Sinha due to his absence from Patna Sahib Constituency after winning 2009 elections. He, however, managed to overcome public anger and won 2014 Lok Sabha elections by a record margin due to massive Modi wave in the country.
