Arrah, Oct 27 (PTI) A full-time activist of the CPI(ML) Liberation with declared assets of Rs 37,000 in his election affidavit, Quyamuddin Ansari is in the fray from Arrah, one of the two assembly seats with the NDA in the Shahabad region of Bihar where he lost against BJP's Amarendra Pratap Singh in the 2020 polls.

Ansari, who comes from the backward Pasmanda Muslim community and lost by a margin of around 3,000 votes in the last polls, says he is fighting the election with small donations from supporters, but is confident of defeating "money power".

"Candidates in other parties have to pay money to fight elections. But here, people are supporting my campaign," Ansari told PTI in an interview.

The BJP has fielded Sanjay Singh ‘Tiger' from the seat this time.

The 50-year-old CPI(ML) leader joined politics during his student days and has been an activist ever since. "I am from a poor, backward family. My father did not own any land. Now I am a full-time worker of a CPI(ML), and my wife is an Anganwadi worker," Ansari said.

"Life is difficult, but I have never stopped fighting for the poor," he said.

"Our opponents are rich. The political party fighting against us is stealing votes. While on the one side, there is money power, on the other side are the people who make small contributions of Rs 10-20. I am fighting this election with that money," he said, adding, "People have decided that they will defeat the money lords this time." "The poor never disappoint; they support our movement. They also donate money to our campaign. When we go to a village for a meeting, I spread my towel in front of the people, and they contribute according to their capacity.

"They know this party survives based on their support," he said, adding that, unlike other candidates who have to spend money, people not just donate money for his campaign, but they also "feed us and our supporters, and also come out to seek votes for me".

This is the third time Ansari is contesting from Arrah. In 2015, he got around 5000 votes and lost out narrowly in 2020. This time, he claims, the NDA would not win a single seat in the Shahabad region.

"The people of Arrah do not see me as a defeated candidate. They see me as a winning candidate. This time, the people have decided that they will teach the vote thieves, the job thieves, the treasury thieves, the land thieves a lesson," he said.

According to his election affidavit, Ansari has nine cases against him, including on charges of attempt to murder and rioting. However, he says that they are related to "jan andolan" as he was involved in various protests and public campaigns for people's rights.

Shahabad region includes four districts - Bhojpur, Buxar, Rohtas and Kaimur. Together, there are 22 assembly seats, of which the NDA had won only two last time -- Arrah and Barhara -- with both going to the BJP.

Ansari stressed that education and employment are the most important issues that the incumbent government has "failed" to address.

"It has been 20 years of the Nitish Kumar government. A child who was born when Nitish ji came to power is a youth now, looking for a job. This government has failed in providing employment," he said.

"Arrah has a BJP MLA. The mayor and deputy mayor also belong to the BJP, and they are in power in Patna and Delhi as well. Arrah has a budget of Rs 1000 crore, yet there are piles of garbage, overflowing drains and dirty roads. There is no environment for education," he said.

"There are no health facilities. People do not get the opportunity to live the way they should live. That is why people have decided that this time the BJP will face a massive defeat," he claimed.

"Students here work hard. They want to study and prepare for competitions. They are studying in the open, but the BJP MLA could not give a library to them," he said.

"People are standing with the INDIA bloc and it will form the government," Ansari said.

He stressed that employment is the main poll promise of the opposition alliance.

"In 2020, we promised 10 lakh jobs, Nitish ji made fun of that. But then he saw the anger of the people, and promised 19 lakh jobs. When we were in power for 17 months, we gave employment to 5 lakh youths.

"Nitish ji rode a bulldozer and went back to the BJP, and since then, there have been paper leaks, unemployment. So youth are supporting us," he said, taking a swipe at the chief minister. PTI AO RT RT