Sheikhpura, Oct. 24: The time is 3.30 pm and hundreds of CRPF and BSF jawans with light machine guns could be seen marching on the streets of Sheikhpura, nestled in a small range of hills to the south of the Ganges.
The constituency is heading for polls on October 26 and the Election Commission does have its reasons for making Sheikhpura look like a military camp.
The murder of Congress MP and local strongman Rajo Singh, who represented Sheikhpura in the Bihar Assembly from 1972 to 1998 and then the Begusarai Lok Sabha seat from 1999, on September 9 was the continuation of a history of violence in the district, which also includes the Barbigha seat.
Keeping that in mind, the authorities decided to leave no stone unturned and pressed 15 companies of paramilitary forces into service.
?Sheikhpura is sitting on a powder keg as the fallen don?s supporters are ready to avenge his killing,? said a professor of the local ARD College.
But the murder was not an isolated incident. It was in alleged retaliation to the massacre of 10 Yadavs and Kurmis allegedly by the ?gang? led by Sanjay Singh, son of Rajo Singh, a couple of years ago.
Sanjay, who became the MLA of Sheikhpura after his father went to the Lok Sabha, is in jail in connection with the carnage. His wife Sunila Devi (40) is now contesting the Sheikhpura seat on a Congress ticket.
The constituency is significant in the sense that while the Congress and RJD are contesting as allies in other parts of the state, in Sheikhpura and adjoining Barbigha the two parties are locked in a head-to-head battle.
?Rajo Singh?s son Sanjay Singh massacred 10 people, including RJD district president Pahalwan Kashinath Yadav and eight other members of that party,? said Bipin Kumar, in-charge of the district RJD unit. ?How can the RJD support the wife of our partymen?s killer?? asked Manoj Yadav, another party leader.
Police sources pointed out that ?the battle between the Bhumihar and Yadav-Kurmi gangs has claimed at least 40 lives in the past decade?.
None of the ?Big Three? in Bihar ? Laloo Prasad Yadav, Nitish Kumar and Ram Vilas Paswan ? enjoys much influence here. ?Laloo Prasad has not campaigned as he is aware that the Yadav voters will not listen to anything in favour of the Congress nominee,? said Manoj Yadav.
Nitish Kumar, too, is aware of the hostile attitude of his Kurmi castemen towards the Bhumihars who have extended their support to the NDA in all other parts of the state. Paswan, on the other hand, is a ?persona non grata? in a constituency where poor Dalit voters do not really count.
?We have 15 companies of paramilitary forces to guard the booths on polling day. The forces will also patrol Sheikhpura bazaar on that day to keep trouble-mongers at bay,? superintendent of police S. Mallar Viji told The Telegraph.
Sheikhpura has been a ?pocket borough? of the Congress with its stalwart, Rajo Singh, ruling for over three decades with an iron fist. ?I am seeking votes in the name of the contributions made by my father-in-law,? Sunila Devi has been telling voters.
But the ?contributions? are difficult to spot as Sheikhpura shows no signs of shedding its backward tag.
With the dons and their rivals engaged in protracted clashes, Sheikhpura does not have anyone to look after its roads, irrigation, electricity and other civic amenities, feel most voters.
It took the correspondent five hours to cover the 22km stretch from Sheikhpura to Lakhisarai. Dotted with deep trenches and ubiquitous potholes, the highway had several broken-down vehicles on either side.
?We have no one to talk to about the broken roads and the lack of irrigation facilities, seeds and fertilisers,? said Kanchan Yadav at Tatipur, sitting near an earthen lamp in his hut.
