Great grandsons of Bihar's first CM are rivals

Barbigha (Bihar), Oct 3: Two great grandsons of Bihar's first chief minister, Sri Krishna Sinha, are contesting against each other in state's assembly elections.

Anil Shankat Sinha and Amritansh Anand are seeking votes in the name of Sri Krishna Sinha, popularly known as Sri Babu, in the semi-urban Barbigha constituency in Sheikhpura district.

Both are contesting elections for the first time.

Anil Shankat Sinha is a Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) candidate while Amritansh Anand is an independent.

Both are campaigning for over 12 hours daily, in small towns and villages in the Bhumihar-Brahmin dominated constituency.

"I have a single agenda: to work for the people and to develop Barbigha," Anil Shankat Sinha says.

"I was planning to contest as an independent but the NCP offered me the ticket," said the graduate from Pune University.

He said the party hardly matters, Sri Babu's legacy does.

"My name carries his legacy. For me, Sri Babu's name is enough. People still respect him."

Anil Shankar Sinha said he left a lucrative job with a private mobile service provider to work for the people in Barbigha.

Amritansh Anand, another great grandson of Sri Babu, runs a school and has been active in the constituency for three years. He is also the son of former Bihar Police chief Anand Shankar.

Anand is distributing a calendar with the life history of Sri Babu in schools to popularise his values.

He was keen to be the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate but his name was dropped at the last minute.

"I am hopeful that people will give me a chance to serve them. I will devote my time for their empowerment and development," said Anand, a post-graduate in political science from Delhi University.

The Congress, part of the Grand Alliance, has put up Sudarshan Kumar, the grandson of veteran Congress leader Rajo Singh. The Rashtriya Lok Samata Party, a BJP ally, has fielded Shiv Kumar.

The elections to the 243-member Bihar assembly will take place in five phases between October 12 and November 5. Vote count is due on November 8.

IANS