Paswan eyes history again as he returns to Hajipur
2 min read
History will be definitely in the mind of LJP president Ram Vilas Paswan as he returns to contest the Hajipur parliamentary seat to avenge his defeat in the hands of JD(U) veteran Ram Sundar Das five years ago.
Das, the 93-year -old sitting Hajipur MP, had defeated Paswan by a slim margin of 37,954 votes in the 2009 general elections.
“This election in Hajipur is not being fought merely to register a victory. This poll is being held to break the records once again,” Paswan told a rally soon after filing his nomination papers.
Paswan had made it to the Guinness Book of World Records for the biggest poll victory margin in 1977, when he had won as the Janata Party candidate by 4.24 lakh votes. That was, however, not the only time he had set a world record in electoral politics. Paswan had bettered his record in 1989 when he defeated his rival by 5.04 lakh votes.
His record was subsequently eclipsed twice. In 1991, former prime minister P. V. Narasimha Rao had won a by- election from Andhra Pradesh’s Nandyal by a margin of 5.80 lakh votes. Rao’s record was later broken by CPI( M) stalwart Anil Basu in 2004. Basu won the Arambag seat by a margin of 5.93 lakh votes in 2004.
But Paswan sounds optimistic of making a re- entry into the record books. ” I will not only break my own record but also shatter the world record. The situation prevailing now is reminiscent of the 1977 polls. I am confident that I will repeat my performance of that election,” he said.
His rival Das, a former Bihar chief minister, is also confident of defeating Paswan on his home turf again. ” Who says I am indisposed and unable to walk and talk? In fact, I am stronger than those who dismiss me off as being unwell” Das said after filing his nomination papers on Wednesday.
Though there were talks that the party would field Bihar’s minister for land reforms Ramai Ram in his place, the JD(U) high command reposed its trust in Das.
Paswan’s opponents have brushed aside his world record claims. ” He has ditched the RJD for communal forces now even though Lalu Prasad had made him a Rajya Sabha member after his loss in the Lok Sabha polls,” an RJD supporter said.
Courtesy: Mail Today
