Anuj Sharma, Muzaffarpur. The people of Jhanjharpur Lok Sabha constituency will elect their MP on May 7. On this seat, parties originating from Janata Dal family, RJD-JDU have been hoisting the flag of victory one by one. In 2019, Rampreet Mandal won from here on Janata Dal (United) ticket. Rampreet Mandal had defeated Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) candidate Gulab Yadav by about three and a half lakh votes. Seats have been divided among the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) regarding the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. This time also Jhanjharpur seat has gone to JDU’s account. This means that this time too there will be a candidate from Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s party. Who will he be? The party can announce this anytime. On this parliamentary seat dominated by backward communities (about 35 percent), all the major parties have fielded candidates mostly from backward classes.
The first elections were held in 1972
Lok Sabha elections were held for the first time in 1972 in Jhanjharpur, which was the capital of Mithila in the 11th century. The heritage like forts, sculptures and inscriptions etc. tell the story of the prosperity of this region. Jagannath Mishra, who was the Chief Minister of Bihar, represented the people here in both the Assembly and Lok Sabha houses. In 1972, Congress candidate Jagannath Mishra won from here. In 1977, Bharatiya Lok Dal candidate Dhanik Lal Mandal defeated Congress candidate Jagannath Mishra by 157481 votes. The representatives elected from the two assembly constituencies of this Lok Sabha seat, Jhanjharpur and Phulparas, are cabinet ministers in the Bihar government. Industry and Tourism Minister Nitish Mishra (BJP) is MLA from Jhanjharpur and Transport Minister Sheela Kumari (JDU) is MLA from Phulparas. This is what gives this seat VIP status. It also makes elections exciting.
Devendra Prasad Yadav had made the record of victory
If we look at the Lok Sabha elections held since 1977, Devendra Prasad Yadav has been elected MP the maximum number of times, five times. He won from Janata Dal (JD) from 1989 to 1996. In 1998, Surendra Prasad Yadav (RJD) defeated him. But, one year later in 1999, he won from JDU. However, in 2004 he reached Parliament on RJD ticket.
Such was the picture of the last three elections
If we talk about Lok Sabha elections, in 2014 all three BJP, JDU and RJD were in the fray. BJP was the winner by getting 35.9 percent votes. RJD was at second place with 30 percent votes. JDU got 19.7 percent votes. In 2009, there was a triangular contest between Congress, JDU and RJD. Congress got 14.20 percent votes. JDU candidate won by getting 43.6 percent votes. RJD got 31.7 percent votes. In the 2019 elections, it was not a direct fight between parties but between alliances. On one hand, JDU had fielded a candidate from NDA. RJD was from the Grand Alliance side. NDA had a big victory in this. JDU got 56.8 percent votes. RJD had to be satisfied with 26.4 percent votes.
Caste equation of parliamentary constituency
The number of rural voters in Jhanjharpur, which is part of Madhubani district, is close to 97.1%. Urban voters are about 2.9%. The literacy rate here is 48.03%. Here from 1989 to 2004, MPs were elected from Yadav caste only. Based on estimates, most of the voters here are from extremely backward castes. Dalit (SC) voters are 13.5%. The number of ST is 0.1%. Of the total voters, 13.9% are considered Muslims. 20 percent Brahmins and similar numbers are estimated to be Yadav voters. There are also a good number of Kayastha (Karna) voters here.
Lok Sabha constituency issues
This area faces floods every year. The development of Sakri-Jhanjharpur-Laukaha railway section and the issue of closed sugar mill have been continuously raised from the Assembly to the Lok Sabha. The demand for construction of a bridge (Bhadua Ghat) on Kamla-Balan river has also been an election issue.
party position in the assembly
In the assembly elections 2020, BJP has three MLAs in the six assembly seats under Jhanjharpur parliamentary seat. JDU has two MLAs and RJD has one MLA. Arun Shankar Prasad (BJP) is from Khajauli assembly constituency, Meena Kumari (JDU) is from Babubarhi, Dr. Rampreet Paswan (BJP) is from Rajnagar (SC). Nitish Mishra (BJP) is MLA from Jhanjharpur and Sheela Kumari (JDU) is MLA from Phulparas. RJD has the seat of Laukaha. The MLA here is Bharat Bhushan.
Who won from Jhanjharpur Lok Sabha seat when?
Year @Candidate @Party@Total Votes
2019 @Rampreet Mandal @JDU@602391
2014 @Birendra Kumar Chaudhary @BJP @335481
2009 @Mangani Lal Mandal @JD(U) @265175
2004 @Devendra Prasad Yadav @RJD@323400
1999@Devendra Prasad Yadav @JD(U) @375852
1998@Surendra Prasad Yadav @RJD @260700
1996 @Devendra Prasad Yadav @JD@358396
1991@ Devendra Prasad Yadav@ JD @372785
1989 @Devendra Prasad Yadav @JD @339454
1984 @Gauri Shankar Rajhans @Congress @375745
1980 @Dhanik Lal Mandal @JNP(S) @202710
1977 @Dhanik Lal Mandal @BLD@305554
Total voters: 1986590
Male – 1036753
Female – 949749
Third Gender – 88
,Source: Election Commission of India, 1 January 2024 ,