Manoj Kumar, Patna. Bihar voters have not shown much interest in independent candidates in the Lok Sabha. Only a few independents have won the elections held since 1952. If we look at it according to caste, during this period three Rajputs and three Yadavs were successful in achieving victory. Most of the winning candidates were going to carry forward the political legacy. Recently, after the year 2009-10, no independent candidate from Bihar reached Parliament by winning. Earlier, some independents were elected from Bihar in 1967, 1991, 1999, 1996 and 1968. The winning independents became MPs, sometimes through rebellion and sometimes with the help of their personal credibility. Many of the winning candidates have departed from this world. In the year 2009, two independent MPs were elected from Bihar. Digvijay Singh had won from Banka and Omprakash Yadav had won from Siwan.
Kamal Singh won twice as an independent
In the 1952 elections, Maharaja Kameshwar Singh of Darbhanga, who was contesting as an independent from Darbhanga West seat, lost the election by eight thousand votes, however, in the same election, Dumraon Maharaja Kamal Singh was elected as an independent from Shahabad North West seat. He was the youngest then. Dumraon Maharaj Kamal Singh also won in 1957. He is the only MP in Bihar to win independent elections twice in a row. He inherited the throne. After the independence of the country, Dumraon Maharaj maintained his dominance in the region by coming into the democratic process.
Digvijay Singh had won Banka after rebelling from JDU.
Digvijay Singh of Gidhaur royal family has also won the election once as an independent. Before the 2009 elections, he had rebelled against JDU. In the year 2009, he did not get the ticket from Banka. He became upset with this and then he came out as an independent candidate. He won the elections with an overwhelming majority. The joy of victory did not last long. He died soon. His wife Putul Kumari contested this seat as an independent candidate in 2010. Putul Kumari also won due to sympathy and influence of Digvijay Singh.
Also Read: Congress was evicted from its traditional seats in Bihar, know what happened with Kanhaiya.
Kali Pandey’s victory was in the headlines
Bahubali Kali Pandey had won from Gopalganj seat in 1984 as an independent candidate with record votes. At that time, Kali Pandey’s victory as an independent candidate was in the headlines across the country. Kali Pandey was also called the guru of musclemen at that time. Kali Pandey’s victory cleared the way for the strongmen to enter Parliament. The strongmen started feeling that they too can get the chair by winning the elections.
Rajesh Ranjan won from Purnia twice
Suryaprakash Puri had won from Nawada in 1967, Ramendra Kumar from Begusarai in 1996, Vindeshwari Prasad Mandal had won from Madhepura in 1968 as an independent candidate. At the same time, in 1991 and 1999, Rajesh Ranjan reached Parliament by winning the independent elections from Purnia.