Bihar election: Left's bastion or new beat? The competition at Darauli seat is interesting

Patna, October 12 (IANS). Darauli, located in the Bihar Siwan district, is a reserved seat for scheduled cabinets (SC). This seat covers Darauli, Guthni and Andar blocks of the district and is along the Uttar Pradesh border on the western edge of the district. Agriculture is the mainstay of the economy of this area in the fertile plains of the Ghaghra River. Paddy, wheat and seasonal vegetables are widely grown here. However, due to limited jobs, a large number of people also migrate to metropolitan cities. Geographically, the location of Darauli is very important. It is located about 30 kilometers west of Siwan City, about 40 kilometers east of Ballia in UP and about 70 kilometers south-east of Chapra. At the same time, the distance from the state’s capital Patna is about 150 kilometers. The area is well connected by the road and Siwan City is the most important hub for local operating activities. Darauli meeting constituency was founded in 1951 as a general category seat, but after the 2008 demarcation it was reserved for scheduled castes. So far, 17 meetings elections have been held in this area, including the 2020 election. The history of Darauli was very interesting and variable from the political point of view. This seat was deeply influenced by the left -wing powers, especially the Communist Party of India. The party has won this seat five times so far and has long kept the political discourse under its control. The congress won this seat four times, while Bharatiya Jan Sangh and later BJP won it three times. Apart from this, Janata Party, Samyukt Socialist Party, Lok Dal, Janata Dal and RJD (Rashtriya Janata Dal) also won once. From 1995, the influence of the left has gradually increased in Darauli and the CPI (ML) (l) strengthened its organizational roots. Even when this seat was reserved in 2010, the party maintained its hold. However, in the 2010 election, Ramayan Manjhi of BJP defeated the left candidate. After this, by registering successive victories in 2015 and 2020, Satyadev Ram of CPI (ML) (l) proved that Darauli is still a strong ground of left ideology. According to the data released by the Electoral Commission in 2024, the total population of the Darauli meeting constituency is 5,49,256, which includes 2,87,098 men and 2,62,158 women. At the same time, the total number of voters is 3,23,945, of which 1,68,719 are men, 1,55,216 women and 10 are third gender voters. -—IANS PSK/ABM