A National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidate in Bihar purportedly faced an embarrassing situation when voters from the constituency politely refused to vote for him in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. The incident unfolded when Rashtriya Lok Morcha leader Upendra Kushwaha, the NDA candidate from Bihar’s Karakat seat, was in the constituency to garner support in his favour for parliamentary elections.

A video capturing the incident has gone viral, wherein a local resident can be heard expressing gratitude for Kushwaha’s visit but firmly stating, “We will not vote for you, sir.”

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The exchange took place with remarkable civility as the man acknowledged Kushwaha’s presence, appreciating the fact that he had finally visited their village.

“Aapka poora izzat kar rahe hain. Swaagat hai. Aabhaar bhi vyakt kar rahe hain iss baat ke lie kee aaj tak 18 varshon se jo saansad mahoday rahe hain aise pichhadon ke gaon mein kabhi aana uchit nahin samjhe. (We respect you completely. You are welcome. We are also expressing our gratitude for the fact that those who have been an MP for 18 years till date have never considered it appropriate to come to such backward villages.)” the man can be heard saying in the viral video.

“Lekin aapko bulaaya gaya, to chaliye hum log dhanya ho gaye aapka darshan kar ke. Lekin vote nahin milega hum log ke taraf se, sir. (But you were called, so we are blessed to see you. But we will not vote for you, sir.)” he added.

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the Karakat constituency came into existence in 2008 as a part of the delimitation, Mahabali Kushwaha has won twice – in 2009 and 2019 – from the seat on a JD(U) ticket. Upendra Kushwaha won from there in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

Upendra Kushwaha-led Rashtriya Lok Morcha has its base among the Kushwahas or Koeris, a dominant other backward caste (OBC) in Bihar. Earlier, Kushwaha, who had floated the Rashtriya Lok Samta Party (RLSP) in 2013, fought the 2014 Lok Sabha polls as an NDA partner and became a minister in the first Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre.

Later, he merged his party with Nitish Kumar’s JD (U). However, in February 2023, Kushwaha resigned from all positions in JD (U) and formed his own party called Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM). Now, his party is part of the NDA alliance in Bihar and contesting from Karakat Lok Sabha seat.

As part of the seat-sharing arrangement in the NDA, the BJP is contesting on 17 seats, the JD-U 16, the LJP-R of Chirag Paswan five and the HAM-S of former CM Jitan Ram Manjhi and the RLM one each.

With Bhojpuri star Pawan Singh taking a poll plunge from Karakat, it is set to witness a triangular contest this time. Rajaram Singh of CPI(ML) Liberation has been named as the grand alliance candidate from the Lok Sabha seat.