Column argues Shatrughan Sinha faces defeat by Ravi Shankar Prasad in Patna Sahib

An opinion column argued that actor-turned-politician Shatrughan Sinha, who recently left the BJP for the Congress, is heading for defeat in Patna Sahib, where he faces BJP leader and Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad. The writer, a fellow at India Foundation and an assistant professor at Patna University, described the seat as a battle between two Kayasthas and one of the most closely watched contests in the country.

The case made for Prasad

The column said Patna Sahib has traditionally been a BJP stronghold, with five of its six Assembly segments held by BJP legislators, and has a sizeable Kayastha population. Sinha has represented the seat for the past decade.

It described Prasad, who is contesting his first Lok Sabha election, as a seasoned lawyer-politician. He is the son of the late Jana Sangh leader Thakur Prasad, who headed the party’s Bihar unit and is credited with building it in the state alongside Kailashpati Mishra. Prasad began as an ABVP member and became general secretary of the Patna University Students Union. A senior Patna journalist quoted in the column recalled him riding his bike to the ABVP office and said he begins his campaign with morning walks in the city’s parks.

The column credited Prasad with helping bring the metro rail project to Patna and creating jobs through projects such as a software technology park, and said he was popular with young voters.

The case made against Sinha

The writer argued that Sinha had lost touch with voters over the last 10 years, that his candidature had faced opposition within the BJP in 2014 because of his inaccessibility, and that he won that year on the strength of the Modi wave. The column said he had failed to deliver development, and that the city had fallen behind in urban planning and infrastructure.

It also pointed out that Sinha’s wife, Poonam Sinha, is contesting from Lucknow on a Samajwadi Party ticket, and claimed that Sinha has no campaign office in Patna and spends more time in Lucknow. According to the column, a state Congress office-bearer conceded that the party could have fielded a better candidate. The writer concluded that, for Prasad, the aim was not just to win but to win by a large margin.

See also: constituencies

Originally published on 30 April 2019. Rewritten on 9 October 2026.

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