Bihar Elections 2025: JDU’s dominance on Asthawan assembly seat for 20 years, will RJD be able to make a dent in Nitish’s stronghold?

Patna, October 18 (IANS). In the Bihar Assembly elections, Asthawan Assembly seat of Nalanda district once again became the center of political discussion. Here JDU declared Jitendra Kumar, RJD declared Ravi Ranjan Kumar and Jan Swaraj Party declared Lata Singh as its candidate. The competition for this seat is likely to be interesting. Asthawan is a large block of Nalanda district, located about 11 kilometers east of the district headquarters Biharsharif. This area is considered extremely rich from historical, cultural and agricultural point of view. Religious places like the world famous Nalanda Mahavihar (University) and Pawapuri are located nearby. Falgu river flowing near Asthawan is considered as the lifeline of this area. Its fertile terrain makes agriculture the main livelihood. The history of Asthawan is centuries old. The area was once part of the Magadha Empire and was known as a local trade center for the surrounding villages. The proximity of Nalanda University has deeply influenced the culture, education and lifestyle here. Geelani village Asthawan is known for its unique identity. The mangoes here are famous in the country and abroad. Another unique thing about this village is that whether Hindu or Muslim, almost all the people add the surname ‘Geelani’ before their name. Jiyar village Asthawan block is also important from religious point of view. This village is famous for worshiping Lord Surya Narayan and follows Vaishnav tradition. If we talk about political history, Asthawan assembly constituency was formed in 1951. It is one of the seven constituencies of the Nalanda Lok Sabha constituency, which includes Asthawan, Bind and Sarmera blocks and part of Barbigha block. So far 18 elections have been held on this seat, including the 2001 by-election. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who hails from Nalanda district, had a major influence on this seat. Since 2001, JDU or its predecessor party Samata Party has won six consecutive times here. Interestingly, independent candidates dominated here from 1985 to 2000. He won four consecutive times and five times in total. Till now Congress has won this seat four times, Janata Party twice and Praja Socialist Party once. While big parties like BJP and RJD have not been able to make much impact here till now. RJD is waiting for his first win on this seat. –IANS DCH/VC Share this story Tags