Siwan MP Om Prakash Yadav does not seem too bothered about anti-incumbency getting the better of him and brushes away any challenge from a Muslim-Yadav (M-Y) vote consolidation for Lalu Prasad?s resurgent RJD in Bihar in the wake of an apparently weakened JD(U).

For Om Prakash, who won Siwan as an independent candidate in 2009 despite a Nitish Kumar-led JD(U) wave, the battle in Siwan is ?Sahabuddin versus the rest?.

Om Prakash Yadav was a JD(U) candidate in the 2004 Lok Sabha elections, which he lost to controversial RJD MP Mohammed Sahabuddin. Following the arrest and incarceration of Sahabuddin, his wife Hena Sahab was nominated RJD candidate in 2009. She is again the RJD candidate but Om Prakash, who claims to have ended ?Sahabuddin Raj? (rule of Sahabuddin) in Siwan, is this time contesting as a BJP candidate.

?My last win ensured Sahabuddin factor got knocked out…this election will do away with bad memories of Sahabuddin as MP for 13 years,? said Om Prakash (52), a saffron towel wrapped around his neck and the BJP symbol lotus displayed on his chest like BJP?s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi.

He claims he was the first to challenge Sahabuddin. ?I was the first to challenge Sahabuddin by successfully contesting against his nephew for Zila parishad election in 2002. I was beaten up by his supporters. When I regained consciousness, I vowed that my wife would not apply vermillion on her head till I became Siwan MP. My wife has resumed applying vermillion (sign of being married for Hindu women)?.

Invoking the first President of India, who was born in Siwan, Om Prakash says it is the land of Dr Rajendra Prasad and should remain so.

Demolishing RJD chief Lalu Prasad?s M-Y support, Om Prakash said, ?Can you imagine that 40 Yadavs were killed during RJD rule? What kind of Yadav pride is he talking about? This election will make him realise how Yadavs have been rallying behind Narendra Modi?.

He added Modi connected with the masses by talking about development while his opponents were engaged ?communal versus secular? debate.

Asked whether ?anti-incumbency? would go against him because of is ?inaccessibility?, he said that impression was the result of negative publicity. Holding up a booklet, he said he had spent Rs 19 crore for the constituency.

Yadav starts interacting with people early in the morning. He gets back home to prepare for the campaign. Supporters offer home-made ladoos to visitors. They are ready with facts for his reference like break-up of MPLAD fund spent, caste and community break-up of the constitueny and how many Yadavs were killed in Siwan during RJD rule.

He admits that the BJP is banking on the Modi factor and is enthusiastic about Modi?s scheduled campaign in Siwan on May 9.

Jitendra Singh, a supporter shows a piece of paper that shows Siwan has 3.65 lakh upper caste and 2.77 lakh Vaishya caste voters. Supporters say a good chunk of 1.31 lakh Yadavs who are with the BJP would weigh in favour of Yadav.

Om Prakash claims he has good friends among Muslims. He even has his own theory for getting support across caste and religious lines. He attributes it to his hopping parties, from Janata Party to Congress and JD(U) to BJP.