Bihar meeting elections: Gopalganj's historical heritage, social consciousness and changing comparison of politics.

Patna, October 9 (IANS). Gopalganj of Bihar is one of those meetings where there is a unique confluence of history, culture and politics. It is said that this district is named after Lord Krishna (Gopal). The temples, festivals and folk traditions here give a further depth to its cultural identity. In addition to being important from the religious point of view, this area has always played an active role in everything from the freedom struggle to the socio-political movements of independent India. According to historians, King Videha ruled here during the Vedic era. Later in the Aryan period, Vamana King Chero ruled this area. Many temples and religious places were built during his period, which is still the identity of Gopalganj. Places like Thaiele Durga Temple, Manjha Fort, Vaman Geandey Pound of Dighwa Dubauli, Sirisiya and Raja Malkhan Fort of Kuchaikot keep his glorious historical heritage alive. During the Mahabharata period, this area was under the rule of King Bhuri Sarva, while in the Middle Ages it was ruled by the Sultan Ghiyasuddin Abbas of Bengal and later by the Mughal ruler Babar. Gopalganj’s citizens have always played a leading role in national and social movements, whether it was the freedom struggle, the JP movement or the tax-Disobedace movement of the thirties, led by leaders such as Babu Gangnu Rai and Babu Sunder Lal. In 1935, Pandit Bhopal Pandey made this land proud through his life in the struggle to sacrifice freedom. Bhojpuri is the most important language here, while Hindi and Urdu are also spoken. The traditional food of the people here is Litti-Chokha, rice and wheat rotist. There are three sugar factories, ethanol plant, rice and meal mills and dairy units in the district, which strengthen the local economy. This is why Gopalganj is counted among the top 10 districts of Bihar in terms of per capita income. Chhath Puja, Durga Puja, Diwali, Eid, Muharram and other festivals are celebrated here with religious harmony. The Durga Temple of Thave Block is so famous that dedicated from the States Bihar and Uttar Pradesh come here to have Darshan of the mother goddess. Gopalganj Seat was interesting in Bihar politics. Although it was the hometown of the RJD chief, Lalu Prasad Yadav, his party could not make much impact here. Since 1951, 19 elections (including two by -elections) have been held. RJD could only register a victory once here, in 2000. The early years were dominated by Congress, which won six out of seven elections between 1950 and 1972. In 1967, the United Socialist Party broke the chain of the congress. After this, independent candidates, Janata Party, Janata Dal and Bahujan Samaj party also once got successful. In the past two decades, BJP has been given a strong hold in this area. Former Minister Subhash Singh has won four consecutive times. After his death in 2022, his wife Kusum Devi won the by -election with a margin of just 1.794 votes. BJP is now preparing to give a new but strong face on this seat in 2025. According to the data from the 2024 Electoral Commission, the total population of the Gopalganj meeting of the meeting was 5,66,097, which included 2,82,950 men and 2,83,147 women. At the same time, the total number of voters is 3,44,890. This includes 1,73,929 men, 1,70,954 women and 7 third gender voters. –Is PSK