Anshul Avijit, the son of former Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, has been announced as the Congress candidate for Bihar’s Patna Sahib constituency.
The decision was communicated by AICC General Secretary K C Venugopal.
Patna Sahib, named after the Sikh shrine marking Guru Gobind Singh's birthplace, has traditionally been a BJP stronghold since its establishment after the 2008 delimitation.
The BJP's candidate for the seat in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, scheduled for June 1, is former Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad. Prasad had secured victory against actor-turned-politician Shatrughan Sinha in the previous elections.
Sinha, now with the Trinamool Congress and contesting from Asansol in West Bengal, had previously represented Patna Sahib twice as a BJP MP.
Avijit, set for his electoral debut, brings with him a lineage of political influence, with his mother and maternal grandfather, former Deputy Prime Minister Jagjivan Ram, having represented Bihar's reserved Sasaram seat.
As a longstanding national spokesperson for the Congress, Avijit steps into the political arena amidst the party's alliance with the RJD and three Left parties in Bihar, contesting nine out of the state's 40 Lok Sabha seats.
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