Most leaders across established political parties like the BJP, RJD and the JD(U) are of the view that Kishor and Gupta will be the ones to watch out for in the coming months, with the memories of Union minister Chirag Paswan-headed Lok Janshakti Party singlehandedly engineering the defeat of the JD(U) in nearly 35 assembly seats in 2020 still afresh.An RJD leader claimed that he did not see Kishor or Gupta winning many seats but added that they could draw away just enough votes in several constituencies to ensure the defeat of one of the main parties.While former well-known political strategist Kishor has been mobilising people around the theme of governance and has shunned the conventional caste identity to build support for his party, Gupta has followed the well-trodden track by seeking to rally Tanti and Tantva castes, which fall in the extremely backward classes category.These castes were removed from the Scheduled Castes category after a Supreme Court order, and Gupta quit the Congress to champion their cause.Though RJD leaders claimed Gupta would cut into Kumar’s support, a couple of JD(U) MPs said social equations forged through several elections cannot be undone in one poll and added that their leader remains the chief minister of choice for the numerically smaller castes besides women.Kishor’s party, political watchers said, has in the past elections drawn a sizeable share of votes from constituencies where it could field strong candidates, at times those with roots in other parties.
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