PATNA, Oct. 16 -- Divya Gautam, 34, cousin of late Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput, on Wednesday stepped formally into Bihar's political battlefield, filing her nomination papers as the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) [CPI-ML] candidate from Patna's Digha assembly constituency. Her entry marks a rare blend of art, academia, and activism converging under the Mahagathbandhan umbrella. Though the Opposition alliance has yet to finalise its seat-sharing formula or candidate list for the November 6 and 11 assembly polls, Gautam filed her papers on the CPI-ML symbol. "Please ask my leaders about the seat-sharing. My party asked me to file a nomination from Digha, and I did," she said, sidestepping questions on the alliance dynamics. Gautam turned theatre practitioner and academic, having declined to join government service as a supply inspector after cracking the Bihar Pubic Service Commission examination in 2021. A former government supply inspector turned theatre practitioner and academic, Gautam's public journey has been defined by cultural engagement and social activism. "I see my cousin Sushant bhaiya as an artist. Ideologically we may have differed, but culturally we are bound by the same thread. I'm currently working on a Hamlet production as a tribute to him," she said, interacting with CPI-ML workers during a 'jan sampark' (mass connect) programme after filing her nomination. A former assistant professor of journalism at Patna Women's College (2011-14), Gautam's brush with politics began during her student days when she contested the 2012 Patna University Students' Union election as an AISA candidate, narrowly losing to ABVP's Ashish Sinha. "That election changed me as a person," she recalled, alleging that "money power and negative mobilisation" tilted the result. Since then, she has remained active in student and women's movements through AISA and AIPWA, particularly during the 2012 Nirbhaya protests and campaigns for gender justice. A postgraduate in Women's Studies from TISS, Hyderabad, she has also worked with women in urban slums in Patna and Delhi on issues of sexual harassment, gender issues and women's empowerment. "Women and youth are on top of my agenda," Gautam said, citing waterlogging, traffic congestion, and unemployment as key concerns in Digha....