Lok Sabha Election 2024: Hajipur to Patna Sahib — key seats in Bihar

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Bihar, one of the most significant states in Indian politics, has a total of 40 parliamentary constituencies — the fourth highest in the country after Uttar Pradesh (80), Maharashtra (48) and West Bengal (42). Voting for the Lok Sabha elections in Bihar will take place in all seven phases beginning April 19. The counting of votes will be done on June 4.

During the 2019 polls, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) registered a landslide victory in the state, grabbing 39 of the 40 seats in the state. While the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 17 seats, its NDA allies JD(U) and LJP got 16 and 6 seats each. On the other hand, the Mahagathbandhan — which included the Congress, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and others — was restricted to just one seat.

In 2024, the state is expected to witness a direct contest between the BJP-led NDA and the Congress-led INDIA bloc.

Here’s a look at the key seats in Bihar:

1. Hajipur

Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) chief Chirag Paswan will contest the polls from this seat, taking forward the legacy of his father Ram Vilas Paswan, who had represented Hajipur for eight terms. The seat is currently held by Chirag’s uncle, Pashupati Kumar Paras, who is the chief of the other faction of LJP.

Earlier this month, Paras resigned as the Union Minister and accused the BJP of doing “injustice” with his Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party by not including them in the seat-sharing deal in Bihar. The sitting MP from Hajipur may contest the polls against Chirag Paswan in 2024.

2. Begusarai

In 2019, this seat made national headlines as it witnessed a high-octane battle between BJP’s Giriraj Singh and former JNU students’ union president Kanhaiya Kumar. Singh went on to defeat Kumar by a massive margin of more than four lakh votes.

This time, Singh has been pitted against CPI’s Awadhesh Rai.

3. Arrah

Arrah is another seat in Bihar which will be keenly watched as RK Singh, the Power Minister who took the political plunge after retiring as the Union Home Secretary, is looking forward to a third consecutive term from here.

In 2019, Singh defeated rival CPI(ML)L candidate Raju Yadav by over 1.4 lakh votes. The CPI(ML) Liberation, which seems to have grown stronger since then, is likely to give a tough fight to the BJP this time.

4. Patna Sahib

Patna Sahib is named after the Sikh shrine situated at the place where Guru Gobind Singh was born. This seat is currently represented by former Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad.

In 2019, Prasad defeated then Congress candidate and veteran leader Shatrughan Sinha by a margin of 2.8 lakh votes. Sinha had earlier represented this seat twice as a BJP candidate in 2009 and 2014.

5. Kishanganj

Kishanganj is the only constituency in the state where Muslims account for over 50% of the total population.

A stronghold of the Congress since 2009, the grand old party’s Mohd Javed was the only candidate in Bihar in 2019 to have beaten the BJP-led NDA, which had backed the JD(U). Javed defeated rival JD(U) candidate Syed Mahmood Ashraf by over 34,000 votes last time.

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KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow