Shatrughan Sinha needs no introduction in Bihar, but his son does. The senior Sinha is back into the poll arena, this time campaigning for his son Luv Sinha who is making electoral debut from Bankipur assembly seat, in Sinha senior's erstwhile Patna Lok Sabha constituency.
The assembly seat segment of the state capital has become one of the most hotly contested seats in the state as it has attracted some unlikely entrants. Sinha is up against three-time BJP MLA Nitin Nabin, who is also the party's co-incharge for Sikkim. Also making the contest interesting is the entry of Pushpam Priya Choudhary, a LSE graduate who floated a new party, Plural Party, and declared herself as CM candidate with a promise to transform the state. Manish Barriarr, an MBA from IIFT, and PG diploma holder from Oxford, too has entered the fray to bring about “change”.
Thirty seven year old Luv, who has acted in two Hindi films, the last one being J.P. Datta's Paltan, is contesting on a Congress ticket, as part of the grand alliance. “I am here to stay. I am not promising to turn Bankipur to Singapore or that I will bring change overnight. It is a lie. But I will promise what I am capable of, what an MLA is capable of. I am promising work,” Luv told THE WEEK as he campaigned in the constituency.
Dressed in brown kurta-pyjama, and a sleeveless Nehru jacket, Sinha believes in wearing humility on his sleeves. His father, who was elected twice from Patna Sahib Lok Sabha seat since 2009 on BJP tickets, was often accused by his own partymen, and critics, of staying absent from the constituency.
“If I were to stay away, will people want me then? The same charge was levelled against my father. It was not a personal attack but something that could not be put on him,” Sinha junior says, responding to allegations that he is an outsider.
Luv is on a door-to-door campaign to introduce himself. “What affects me the most is when I spot women sitting on road cooking. It disturbs me and it doesn’t make me feel good about the situation,” he says. Another defining feature of his constituency is that it has over 25 percent votes of Kayastha community to which both Nabin and Sinha belong. “My request to them will be to support me so that I can work for them.”
Luv needs the support of his father to drive home the point. Shatrughan Sinha has given his son a sobriquet which could stick. “People call me Bihari babu. The people of state always loved me. Now, Bihar Putra is in the fray. It is based on your desire, and on command of Congress leaders, that we have sent Luv here,” Shatrughan Sinha told an election gathering in presence of his son, and leaders drawn from parties like the RJD, Congress and the Left.
Using his trademark dialogue Khamosh sparingly, Shatrughan Sinha is scathing in his attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi whom he accused of misleading the country during the fight against the pandemic, and is all praise for “youth icon” Rahul Gandhi, and “present and future” of the state Tejashwi Yadav.
Shatrughan too refers to the accusation that was hurled his way, and now his son. "First they called me an outsider, and then an absentee. It was a lie. I am always present here. I have never brought any disrepute to the state, and instead strived for peace, prosperity and progress.”
Luv's mother Poonam Sinha is also attending rallies with her husband. It is a keenly contested battle for Luv, but it is personal for Shatrughan Sinha, who aims to avenge the humiliation meted to him as he was denied a ticket in 2019 Lok Sabha elections as a BJP candidate. He joined Congress but lost to Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad.
