As fourth phase of Lok Sabha polls is over- five constituencies of Mithila region – Darbhanga, Ujiarpur, Samastipur, Begusarai and Munger have completed their litmus test. Estimated voter % in Mithilanchal region of Bihar was 53.67%.
Out of five seats, among National Democratic Alliance (NDA) allies BJP fielded candidates on Darbhanga, Ujiyarpur and Begusarai, JDU on Munger and LJP on Samastipur, whereas, in Mahagathbandhan, RJD has put its bid on Darbhanga, Begusarai, Congress on Samastipur, Munger and Upendra Kushwaha’s RLSP on Ujiarpur.
Munger Lok Sabha seat:
JDU fielded Nitish Kumar’s blue eyed boy Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lallan Singh against Congress’s Neelam Devi, wife of Mokama strongman Anant Singh. With 6 lakh Extremely Backward Castes (EBCs), 2.25 lakh Bhumihar, 1.25 lakh Yadav, Muslim 1.25 lakh and 3 lakh Dalits, ruling alliance is eyeing to retain the seat with plan to showoff development card of Nitish and Modi.
But voting in Munger turned out to be an anti-democratic phenomenon as musclemen of Lallan Singh forced voters to vote for their candidate and had unleashed violence on journalists who reported about the mishap. This indicates JDUs fear of loss and desperation to win the electoral battle.
Darbhanga Lok Sabha seat:
Knows as Mithila’s heart became a bone of contention prior to seat sharing for the NDA and Mahagathbandhan. JDU’s Sanjay Jha was denied ticket whereas sitting MP Kirti Azad despite joining Congress did not get ticket. RJD veteran Ali Ashraf Fatmi rebelled against the party over denial of ticket but finally Abdul Bari Siddiqui of RJD and BJP’s Gopal Ji Thakur were pitted against each other.
The swing factor on this seat is thought to be the “Nishad factor”. RJD is banking on alliance partner ‘Son of Mallah’ Mukesh Sahani’s presence as Nishad community which accounts nearly 10% of Darbhanga’s total population. But majorly it seems to take side with the BJP which may affect prospects of Mahagathbandhan.
Ujiarpur Lok Sabha seat:
The battle of prestige between BJP state chief Nityanand Rai and RLSP chief Upendra Kushwaha in Ujiarpur is indicating toward a neck to neck fight. Kushwaha had quit the NDA alliance last year to be part of Mahagathbandhan in Bihar.
Ujiarpur is dominated by castes such as Yadav and Koeri with 3 lakh voters each, followed by 2.75 lakh Brahmins, 3 lakh Bhumihar, 1.5 lakh Muslim, Rajput 1 lakh and Extremely Backward Castes (EBCs) 1.25 lakh. Upendra Kushwaha’s choice for Ujiarpur clearly gets reflected in the caste arithmetic of the seat which is going to make BJPs electoral road a tough one.
Samastipur Lok Sabha seat:
This is a SC reserved constituency, sitting MP of the LJP’ Ram Chandra Paswan fighting against Congress’ Ashok Kumar. The OBC-EBC-Muslim combination may benefit Congress this time as there is outrage among rural voters over absence of sitting MP and lacking of civic infrastructure such as road, water, etc.
Begusarai Lok Sabha seat:
The most hyped seat in this General Elections 2019, a triangular fight between Girirraj Singh of the BJP, veteran RJD leader Dr Tanweer Hassan and CPI leader and former JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar.
The constituency has around 4 lakh Bhumihars, 2.5 lakh Muslims, 2 lakhs Kurmi-Kushwahas 1.5 lakh Yadavs, around 3 lakhs Extremely Backward Castes, 1.5-2 lakh Dalits, 1 lakh Brahmins, and around 75,000 Rajputs. Clash between Giriraj’s muscular nationalism with save nation-constitution slogan of Tanweer Hassan and Kanhaiya Kumar’s pro development narrative, choice for the electorate became tough.
Ground Report: Battle of Begusarai Lok Sabha seat to break traditional social arithmetic
The Bhumihar vote bank of the BJP and Muslim vote bank of the RJD were thought to play a critical role with all possibility of undergoing a split favouring the CPI candidate as his Bhumihar identity had an impact among minority community considering him a symbolic resistance against Modi’s divisive politics. So ransacking of social arithmetic of the BJP and RJD is bound to take place.
It can be concluded that Bihar’s Mithilanchal among 19 Lok Sabha seats in four phases, has hosted an intriguing and interesting electoral battle with the NDA and Mahagathbandhan in a neck to neck to fight.
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