Patna, May 17 (IANS ) The Maharajganj Lok Sabha constituency is considered the Chittorgarh of Bihar thanks to the dominance of Rajput voters and its propensity to favour Rajput candidates.
The BJP, for the last two General Elections has been betting on its Rajput candidate Janardan Singh Sigriwal and he is in the fray from this seat this time as well.
However, the Mahagathbandhan has put up a fight and fielded the Congress’ Aakash Singh.
This Lok Sabha seat came into the limelight after former Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar contested the election from here.
Apart from him, leaders like Ram Bahadur Singh and JD(U)'s Prabhunath Singh represented this seat.
Now, the BJP's Sigriwal, who is known for his simplicity, seems set to win again.
He is being challenged by the Congress’ Aakash Singh, who comes from the Bhumihar caste and is a strong contestant too.
It will be interesting to see who will become the 'Maharaja' of Maharajganj.
However, two developments in the last 10 days have made the path easier for Sigriwal.
Earlier, MLC Sachchidanand Rai, who has a good hold on Bhumihars in this area, had announced that he would contest as an Independent candidate.
However, during Narendra Modi's rally in Saran, Rai not only shared the stage with the Prime Minister but also appealed to the people to support the BJP.
Similarly, Randhir Singh, who had rebelled against the RJD and announced that he would contest the election alone, has also joined the JD(U) and made Sigriwal’s path smooth.
Even so, it might not be a cakewalk for Sigriwal this time as the Mahagathbandhan has played the Bhumihar card and fielded Aakash Singh, who is the son of Congress state President Akhilesh Prasad Singh.
The Maharajganj Lok Sabha constituency came into existence in the second General Election in 1957 and only three Bhumihar candidates Krishna Kant Singh (1962), Ram Deo Singh (1971 and 1977) and Girija Devi (1991) have won from here since then.
On the other hand, 10 Rajput candidates have won the elections here. Mahendra Nath Singh won the Maharajganj seat in 1957, Mritunjay Prasad (1967), Krishna Pratap Singh (1980 and 1984), former PM Chandra Shekhar (1989), Ram Bahadur Singh (1989 bypoll), Ram Bahadur Singh (1996), Prabhunath Singh (1998, 1999, 2004 and 2013 bypoll), Umashankar Singh (2009) and Janardan Singh Sigriwal (2014 and 2019).
The Maharajganj Lok Sabha was once considered the stronghold of bahubali leader Prabhunath Singh as he set a record of winning the most number of times from this seat.
In 2014, Sigriwal defeated Prabhunath Singh and in 2019 he registered his second-consecutive victory by defeating the bahubali leader’s son Randhir Singh. This time too, Sigriwal is contesting in Maharajganj with high spirits.
The Maharajganj Lok Sabha constituency falls in Siwan and Saran districts. Goriakothi and Maharajganj Assembly constituencies come under Siwan District while Taraiya, Ekma Manjhi and Baniapur come under Saran District.
The BJP holds Goriakothi and Taraiya seats while RJD MLAs are from Ekma and Baniapur. Maharajganj Assembly seat is occupied by the Congress and the Manjhi Assembly seat is occupied by the CPM.
The total number of voters in Maharajganj is 19,31,008 out of which the maximum are Rajput voters, who number about 4,60,000. The number of Bhumihar voters here is also over 4 lakh. Apart from this, there are 2,60,000 Brahmins and 300,000 Yadav voters. The number of Muslim voters is about 2 lakh, while Kurmi-Koiri, SC-ST and Vaishya voters are also beyond 4 lakh.
In the sixth phase of the Lok Sabha elections, voting will be held on Maharajganj Lok Sabha seat on May 25 and then on June 4, the results will be declared along with all the seats in the country.