PATNA, Oct. 31 -- Raghopur, constituency of RJD leader and INDIA bloc's chief ministerial face Tejashwi Yadav, falls across the Ganga in Vaishali district, not very far away from Patna. A bastion of the Yadav family, it has been, like most areas, low on scale and high on caste passions. But, now the sands are shifting the voters largely seek infra development and generation of employment that could throttle the menace of migration. Tejashwi is seeking his third legislative term from Raghopur. He is pitted against BJP's Satish Kumar and Jan Suraaj nominee Chanchal Singh in a triangular contest of 'prestige'. Locals in the area are scattered along four social identities -- Yadavs, Rajputs, EBCs and Muslims. The majority tilt of these four decides the outcome of the elections. This election however has a surprising twist. Tejashwi is also facing a new challenger -- a candidate fielded by his estranged elder brother Tej Pratap Yadav's outfit Janshakti Janata Dal (JJD). But Tejashwi shrugged it nonchalantly: "This is the beauty of democracy, Everybody has the right to contest." In 2020, Tejashwi won the seat by a margin of 38,000 votes as against his nearest rival BJP's Satish Kumar, who had won the seat in 2010. As one traverses streets of Raghopur, locals express various sorts of opinions on the area and the leaders that claim it. "We are happy with the way Raghopur has changed in the last many years owing to major infra projects like the Kachi Dargah- Bidupur six lane road bridge. Our connectivity with Patna will be very easy and make travel time to the state capital to just 15-20 minutes, once the bridge gets connected to Bidupur," said Rahul Kumar, a 27-year-old resident of Chandpur village in Bidupur falling in Raghopur assembly segment. He is all praise for the incumbent Nitish Kumar government that has unveiled and completed many developmental projects. Chief minister Nitish Kumar inaugurated the first phase of the six-lane Kachi-Darga bridge till Raghopur diara (4.57 km) in June end this year, which has given better road connectivity to lakhs of families residing in riverine parts of the Raghopur constituency. Work on the two other stretches Hajipur-Mahnar road to Chaksikander and Raghopur diara to Hajipur-Mahnar road is under progress. Around 2-km away at Masura village, where construction of the six lane bridge is still going on, Vibhas Kumar is not impressed though. "Giving roads is not a big thing. The government has not addressed the issue of employment. I am still looking for a job and haven't got one. At least the Opposition RJD leader Tejashwi is talking about it," Kumar said. The youngster alleged that there is high corruption in implementation of government schemes and officials demand "cuts and commissions" in giving benefits under social schemes. The sentiments of locals have seeped into the planning of the contesting leaders as well. They have tailored their campaigns around developmental planks. Both Tejashwi and his closest rival, BJP's Satish Kumar have built their campaign on the development plank. They are showcasing to people the Kachi-Dargah bridge and engineering college set up at Chak Sikanderpur as the achievements for the constituency. "It was during our Mahagathbandhan government in 2016, the project was rolled out. We took a loan from the Asian Development bank and I have taken initiatives for the fast implementation of the Kachi-Dargah project . The work is now almost complete," Yadav said, in an interaction with locals recently. On his first day of campaign a few days back, Yadav also promised that giving jobs would be his first priority and every household in the state would get one government job, evoking big cheers from the crowd at Chak Sikanderpur during a public meeting. On the other hand, BJP's Satish Kumar who won this seat way back in 2010 but lost in two consecutive polls in 2015 and 2020 to Tejashwi is confident that he would win this time and not allow INDIA bloc's CM face to get a third term. "Tejashwi only dishes out lies and has never visited his constituency during floods or any other crisis in the last many years. I have relentlessly worked for this constituency and the BJP JD(U) government has worked for all round development of the constituency including big infra projects and setting up engineering colleges," Kumar said during his campaign. Development certainly dominates the poll narrative and also resonates among the voters, traditional factors like caste too are playing their parts. Both the RJD and BJP nominees know that the social equation often plays down other important issues and they are busy wooing Yadavs, Rajputs, EBCs and Muslims in whichever way possible. The right combination will see one through. While BJP is banking on Rajputs and EBCs, the RJD too eyes votes apart from its Muslim-Yadav (M+Y) pairing that the party hopes will continue to back it. The EBCs are a prime catch in this election, not only in Raghopur but in the entire state. "See, Yadavs are the largest caste grouping among the electorate constituting over one lakh followed by Rajputs, who too have sizeable share. Then there are Muslims. Yadavs often get polarised towards the RJD, which gives it an edge. But this time, the M-Y combination is under test as Lalu's party is poised for a straight fight with the BJP, unlike in the 2020 polls when there was a split in the Rajput and other castes due to third players including from the Lok Janshakti Party. The BJP is also eyeing to make a dent in Yadav votes this time," said Jitendra Rai, a former panchayati raj representative at Bidupur. The statement has its merit as in 2020 polls, Tejashwi's win by 38,000 votes against BJP's Satish Kumar who got around 60,000 votes was attributed largely to a division of votes by the then LJP's nominee Rakesh Raushan, hailing from the Rajput community, had received around 24,000 votes. This time, the Jan Suraaj Party led by Prashant Kishore who has already claimed that "people of Raghpur would vote for change this time" has fielded Chanchal Singh, who belongs to the Rajput community. "One cannot dismiss the repeat of 2020 when the split of Rajput along with other caste groups played a decisive role in the poll battle. The voting would be on caste lines but development is a motivating issue for voters too, said Ramanand Thakur, a septuagenarian from Dildarpur Goberdhan village. Raghopur goes to polls on November 6 in the first phase of the 2-phase assembly elections....