In Bihar’s Kishanganj, a cylinder delivery agent wants to usher in change
Away from the heated poll campaigns of mainstream political parties, Chhotelal Mahto, 47, is busy arranging gas cylinders on his cart in the Moti Bagh area of Kishanganj. Mr. Mahto, popularly known as ‘vidhyak ji’, is an Independent candidate for the Kishanganj Lok Sabha seat and has been contesting polls since 2004.
While many politicians play the caste card in Bihar where, according to the latest caste survey report, Other Backward Classes (OBCs) make up 27% of the population and are the second largest caste group, Mr. Mahto, an OBC himself, counts on his rapport with all sections to win votes.
“I do not know this [caste survey report]. I only bank on my personal relation with locals who will always find me by their side,” he says.
Busy throughout the day, Mr. Mahto goes out to campaign only in the evenings. And there’s no cavalcade. “I meet people from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. on foot or on my bicycle,” he says.
He began his career in 2000 by filing nomination for the State elections, but that was rejected as he had not reached the mandatory age of 25. “I fought the 2004 Lok Sabha election against veterans like Syed Shahnawaz Hussain, Mohammad Taslimuddin and others. I got 11,479 votes,” he says.
The drubbing over the years has not deterred Mr. Mahto who wishes to contest till he gets elected. “That day will definitely come,” he says. His wife Geeta Devi, who fought the local body election in 2023, is confident. “If he has started climbing the stairs, he will reach the top one day,” she says.
To contest polls, the couple saves money for four to five years and takes donations from friends, relatives and local people. “So far, I have spent more than ₹4 lakh on elections,” says Mr. Mahto who earns around ₹15,000 a month. Ms. Geeta rears poultry and goats to support the family of five.
In all previous elections, Mr. Mahto had fought on the “gas cylinder” symbol, but this time, his friends and relatives suggested the “airconditioner”. “Who knows? It may change my fate,” he says.
Kishanganj goes to the polls in the second phase on April 26.