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In the 2020 assembly polls, NDA candidates could not win a single assembly seat in Jehanabad, Patliputra, Buxar and Karakat Lok Sabha constituencies of Shahabad & Magadh regions
With just five months to go before the next election, BJP has put its best face forward—Narendra Modi—who is trying to woo the belt through a cocktail of nationalism and development of Bihar. (PTI)
In a packed two-day itinerary, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has picked Bihar’s Bikramganj for a public gathering on Friday where, alongside unveiling several development initiatives worth crores, BJP’s biggest election mascot is expected to hail the success of India’s Operation Sindoor in the poll-bound state. But why did PM Modi pick Bikramganj in his first Bihar visit since the India-Pakistan conflict?
BJP sources claim that after initial assessment, it was found that not just the past record of the assembly and Lok Sabha seat concerned have been unfavorable for the BJP, but there is an anti-incumbency in the entire Magadh-Shahbadh belt of Bihar which includes Bikramganj. This belt has been a speed breaker in the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance’s strides, both in the 2020 Bihar assembly poll and the 2024 Lok Sabha election.
In last year’s Lok Sabha election, the NDA lost 10 seats in Bihar. Seven of them belonged to this belt—Magadh-Shahabadh. Bikramganj comes under Karakat assembly seat which BJP lost to (CPI(ML)L) in 2020. Arun Singh of the Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation secured 82,700 votes, defeating Rajeshwar Raj of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), who received 64,511 votes.
Had it been just about one seat, it wouldn’t require the prime minister’s attention. However, in the 2020 assembly elections, NDA candidates could not win even a single assembly seat in Jehanabad, Patliputra, Buxar and Karakat Lok Sabha constituencies of Shahabad and Magadh regions.
Shahabad has four Lok Sabha seats—Arrah, Sasaram, Karakat, Buxar—and Magadh has four Lok Sabha seats—Patna, Aurangabad, Gaya, Jehanabad, Nawada.
There are 55 assembly seats in the Shahabad-Magadh region of which NDA could win only 10 seats. Of these 10 seats, BJP won five, while the remaining were won by allies.
With just five months to go before the next election, BJP has put its best face forward—Narendra Modi—who is trying to woo the belt through a cocktail of nationalism, riding high on the recent conflict with Pakistan, and development of Bihar. No wonder, large posters with just Modi’s face and slogans like “Na Desh Jhukega, Na Bihar Ka Vikas Rukega” adorn every nook and corner, bypassing the traditional ‘Sushasan Babu’ Nitish Kumar’s photo.
PM Modi is all set to announce development projects for this belt to undo the anti-incumbency. He will lay the foundation stone and inaugurate schemes worth more than Rs 48,500 crore from Bikramganj, which is at the heart of the Magadh-Shahbadh belt. Patna-Gaya-Dobhi four lane, elevated road at Gopalganj, automatic block signalling till Anugraha Narayan Road in Sasaram are among many other projects through which the prime minister will try to win back the trust of voters in this area.
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