2000 Bihar Legislative Assembly election

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2000 Bihar Legislative Assembly election
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  1995

All 324 seats of the Bihar Legislative Assembly
162 seats needed for a majority
Turnout62.57%
 Majority partyMinority partyThird party
  Rabri Devi presenting a cheque for Rs. 10 crore on behalf of the State Government to the Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh for the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund, in New Delhi on January 04, 2005 (cropped).jpg The Leader of Opposition, Bihar, Shri Sushil Kumar Modi in New Delhi on January 08 (cropped2).jpg The Chief Minister of Bihar, Shri Nitish Kumar meeting with the Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission, Shri Montek Singh Ahluwalia to finalize Annual Plan 2007-08 of the State, in New Delhi on February 14, 2007 (Nitish Kumar) (cropped).jpg
Leader Rabri Devi Sushil Modi Nitish Kumar
Party RJD BJP Samata Party
Alliance RJD-CPI(M) NDA NDA
Leader since199719971994
Leader's seat Danapur Patna Central Did not contest
Seats beforeNew417
Seats won1246734
Seat changeNewIncrease2.svg 16Increase2.svg 27
Popular vote10,500,3615,424,6873,205,746
Percentage28.34%14.64%8.65%
SwingNewIncrease2.svg 1.68%Increase2.svg 1.59%

 Fourth party
  Shri Shaqeel Ahmed in his office after taking over the charge as the Minister of State for Communications & Information Technology in New Delhi on May 24, 2004.jpg
Leader Shakeel Ahmad
Party INC
Leader since2000
Leader's seat Bisfi
Seats before29
Seats won23
Seat changeDecrease2.svg 6
Popular vote4,096,467
Percentage11.06%
SwingDecrease2.svg 5.21%

Bihar close-up.PNG
District map of Bihar

CM before election

Rabri Devi
RJD

Elected CM

Nitish Kumar
Samata Party

The voter turnout in 2000 assembly polls was 62.6%. [1] [2] [3]

Contents

Background

Between 1990 and 2000, Bihar's per capita income, according to a World Bank estimate, fell from 1,373 to 1,289. Power consumption in Bihar went down from 84 KWH to 60 KWH and it registered the lowest number of Internet users among Indian states. As per a Business Today -Gallup survey in December 1999, Bihar was the worst state for investment. [4]

In 1999 Lok Sabha elections Rashtriya Janata Dal received a setback at the hand of BJP+JD(U) combine. The new coalition emerged leading in 199 out of 324 assembly constituencies and it was widely believed that in the forthcoming election to Bihar state assembly elections, the Lalu-Rabri rule will come to an end. The RJD had fought the election in an alliance with the Congress but the coalition didn't work making state leadership of Congress believe that the maligned image of Lalu Prasad after his name was drawn in the Fodder Scam had eroded his support base. Consequently, Congress decided to fight the 2000 assembly elections alone. [5]

The RJD had to be satisfied with the communist parties as coalition partners but the seat-sharing conundrum in the camp of National Democratic Alliance made Kumar pull his Samta Party out of the Sharad Yadav and Ram Vilas Paswan faction of the Janata Dal. Differences also arose between the BJP and Kumar as the latter wanted to be projected as the Chief Minister of Bihar but the former was not in favour. Even Paswan also wanted to be a CM face. The Muslims and OBCs were too divided in their opinion. A section of Muslims, which included the poor communities like Pasmanda were of the view that Lalu only strengthened upper Muslims like Shaikh, Sayyid and Pathans and they were in search of new options. [5]

Yadav also alienated other dominant backward castes like Koeri and Kurmi since his projection as the saviour of Muslims. It is argued by Sanjay Kumar that the belief that, "the dominant OBCs like the twin caste of Koeri-Kurmi will ask for share in power if he (Yadav) seeks their support while the Muslims will remain satisfied with the protection during communal riots only" made Yadav neglect them. Moreover, the divisions in both the camps made the political atmosphere in the state a charged one in which many parties were fighting against each other with no visible frontiers. JD(U) and BJP were fighting against each other on some of the seats and so was the Samta Party. [5]

Results

India Bihar Legislative Assembly 2000.svg
PartySeats
Bharatiya Janata Party 67
Bahujan Samaj Party 05
Communist Party of India 05
Communist Party of India (Marxist) 02
Indian National Congress 23
Janata Dal (United) 21
Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation 06
Jharkhand Mukti Morcha 12
Rashtriya Janata Dal 124
Samata Party 34
United Goans Democratic Party 02
Kosal Party02
Marxist Co-ordination Committee 01
Independent20
Total324

Elected members

ConstituencyReserved for
(SC/ST/None)
MemberParty
DhanahaNoneRajesh Singh Bahujan Samaj Party
BaghaSC Purnmasi Ram Rashtriya Janata Dal
RamnagarNoneChandra Mohan Ray Bharatiya Janata Party
ShikarpurSCBhagirathi Devi Bharatiya Janata Party
SiktaNoneDilip Kr. Varma Bharatiya Janata Party
LauriaNoneVishwa Mohan Sharma Indian National Congress
ChanpatiaNoneKrishna Kumar Mishra Bharatiya Janata Party
BettiahNone Renu Devi Bharatiya Janata Party
NautanNone Baidyanath Prasad Mahto Samata Party
RaxaulNoneAjay Kumar Singh Bharatiya Janata Party
SugauliNoneVijay Prasad GuptaKosal Party
MotihariNone Rama Devi Rashtriya Janata Dal
AdapurNone Birendra Prasad Kushwaha Independent
DhakaNoneManoj Kumar Singh Rashtriya Janata Dal
GhorasahanNoneLaxmi Na. Prasad Yadav Janata Dal
MadhubanNone Sitaram Singh Rashtriya Janata Dal
PipraSCSurendra Kumar Chandra Rashtriya Janata Dal
KesariyaNoneObaidullah Samata Party
HarsidhiNoneMaheshwar Singh Samata Party
GobindganjNoneRajan Tiwari Independent
KateyaNoneKiran Devi Rashtriya Janata Dal
BhoreSCAcharya Vishwanath Baitha Bharatiya Janata Party
MirganjNonePrabhu Dayal Singh Samata Party
GopalganjNoneAnirudh Pd. Alias Sadhu Yadav Rashtriya Janata Dal
BarauliNoneRam Pravesh Rai Bharatiya Janata Party
BaikunthpurNoneManjeet Kumar Singh Samata Party
BasantpurNoneSatyadeo Pd. Singh Bharatiya Janata Party
GoreakothiNoneIndradeo Prasad Rashtriya Janata Dal
SiwanNone Awadh Bihari Choudhary Rashtriya Janata Dal
MairwaSCSatyadeo Ram Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist)
DarauliNoneSheo Shankar Yadav Rashtriya Janata Dal
ZiradeiNoneM. Azazul Haque Rashtriya Janata Dal
MaharajganjNone Umashankar Singh (sawan Bigrah) Samata Party
RaghunathpurNone Vijay Shankar Dubey Indian National Congress
ManjhiNoneRavindra Nath Mishra Independent
BaniapurNoneManoranjan Singh Independent
MasrakhNoneTarkeshwar Singh Rashtriya Janata Dal
TaraiyaNoneRam Das Ray Rashtriya Janata Dal
MarhauraNoneYadubanshi Rai Rashtriya Janata Dal
JalalpurNone Janardan Singh Sigriwal Independent
ChapraNoneUdit Rai Rashtriya Janata Dal
GarkhaSCMuneshwar Chaudhary Rashtriya Janata Dal
ParsaNone Chandrika Rai Rashtriya Janata Dal
SonepurNoneVinay Kumar Singh Bharatiya Janata Party
HajipurNone Nityanand Rai Bharatiya Janata Party
RaghopurNone Lalu Prasad Yadav Rashtriya Janata Dal
MahnarNoneRama Kishore Singh Janata Dal
JandahaNone Upendra Kushwaha Samata Party
PatepurSCPrema Chaudhary Rashtriya Janata Dal
MahuaSC Dasai Chowdhary Rashtriya Janata Dal
LalganjNoneVijay Shukal Independent
VaishaliNoneVeena Shahi Indian National Congress
ParuNoneMithilesh Pd. Yadav Rashtriya Janata Dal
SahebganjNoneRam Vichar Rai Rashtriya Janata Dal
BarurajNoneShashi Kumar Rai Janata Dal
KantiNoneGulam Jilani Warasi Rashtriya Janata Dal
KurhaniNone Basawan Prasad Bhagat Rashtriya Janata Dal
SakraSCSital Ram Rashtriya Janata Dal
MuzaffarpurNoneVijendra Chaudhary Rashtriya Janata Dal
BochahaSC Ramai Ram Rashtriya Janata Dal
GaighattiNoneVeerendra Kumar Singh Janata Dal
AuraiNoneGanesh Prasad Yadav Janata Dal
MinapurNone Dinesh Prasad Independent
RunisaidpurNoneBhola Rai Rashtriya Janata Dal
BelsandNoneRam Swarth Rai Rashtriya Janata Dal
SheoharNoneSataya Nr. Prasad Rashtriya Janata Dal
SitamarhiNoneShahid Ali Khan Rashtriya Janata Dal
BathnahaNoneSuryadeo Rai Rashtriya Janata Dal
MajorganjSCGauri Shankar Nagdansh Bharatiya Janata Party
SonbarsaNone Ramchandra Purve Rashtriya Janata Dal
SursandNone Jainandan Prasad Yadav Janata Dal
PupriNoneSita Ram Yadav Rashtriya Janata Dal
BenipattiNoneRamashish Yadav Janata Dal
BisfiNone Shakil Ahmad Indian National Congress
HarlakhiNoneSitaram Yadav Rashtriya Janata Dal
KhajauliSCRam Lakhan Ram "raman" Rashtriya Janata Dal
BabubarhiNoneDeo Narayan Yadav Rashtriya Janata Dal
MadhubaniNone Ramdev Mahato Bharatiya Janata Party
PandaulNoneNaiyar Azam Rashtriya Janata Dal
JhanjharpurNoneJagdish Narayan Chaudhary Rashtriya Janata Dal
PhulparasNoneRam Kumar Yadav Janata Dal
LaukahaNoneHari Pd. Sah Samata Party
MadhepurNoneJagat Nr. Singh Rashtriya Janata Dal
ManigachhiNoneLalit Kr. Yadav Rashtriya Janata Dal
BaheraNone Abdul Bari Siddiqui Rashtriya Janata Dal
GhanshyampurNoneMahavir Prasad Rashtriya Janata Dal
BaheriNoneRamanand Singh Janata Dal
Darbhanga RuralSC Pitambar Paswan Rashtriya Janata Dal
DarbhangaNoneSultan Ahmad Rashtriya Janata Dal
KeotiNone Ghulam Sarwar Rashtriya Janata Dal
JaleNoneVijay Kumar Mishra Bharatiya Janata Party
HayaghatNoneUmadhar Pd.singh Independent
KalyanpurNone Ashwamedh Devi Samata Party
WarisnagarSCRam Sewak Hazari Janata Dal
SamastipurNone Ram Nath Thakur Janata Dal
SarairanjanNoneRamashraya Sahni Rashtriya Janata Dal
Mohiuddin NagarNoneRam Chandra Rai Rashtriya Janata Dal
DalsinghsaraiNone Ram Padarath Mahto Rashtriya Janata Dal
BibhutpurNone Ramdeo Verma Communist Party of India
RoseraSCAshok Kumar Samata Party
SinghiaNoneDr. Ashok Kumar Indian National Congress
HasanpurNone Gajendra Himansu Janata Dal
BaliaNoneShrinarayan Yadav Rashtriya Janata Dal
MatihaniNoneRajendra Rajan Communist Party of India
BegusaraiNoneBhola Pd. Singh Bharatiya Janata Party
BarauniNoneRajendra Pd. Singh Communist Party of India
BachwaraNoneUttam Kumar Yadav Rashtriya Janata Dal
Cheria BariarpurNoneAshok Kumar Rashtriya Janata Dal
BakhriSCRamanand Ram Rashtriya Janata Dal
RaghopurNoneUday Prasad Goet Rashtriya Janata Dal
KishunpurNoneYaduwansh Kumar Yadav Rashtriya Janata Dal
SupaulNoneBijendra Pd. Yadav Janata Dal
TribeniganjNone Anup Lal Yadav Rashtriya Janata Dal
ChhatapurSCGita Devi Rashtriya Janata Dal
KumarkhandSCBhupendra Rishideo Rashtriya Janata Dal
SingheshwarNoneVijay Kumar Singh Rashtriya Janata Dal
SaharsaNoneShankar Prasad Tekriwal Rashtriya Janata Dal
MahishiNoneAbdul Ghafoor Rashtriya Janata Dal
Simri-bakhtiarpurNone Mehboob Ali Kaisar Indian National Congress
MadhepuraNoneRajendra Prasad Yadav Rashtriya Janata Dal
SonbarsaNoneAshok Kumar Singh Rashtriya Janata Dal
KishanganjNoneProf. Ravindra Charan Yadav Rashtriya Janata Dal
AlamnagarNoneNarendra Nr. Yadav Janata Dal
RupauliNone Bima Bharti Independent
DhamdahaNone Leshi Singh Samata Party
BanmankhiSCDeo Narayan Rajak Bharatiya Janata Party
RaniganjSCYamuna Prasad Ram Rashtriya Janata Dal
NarpatganjNoneJanardan Yadav Bharatiya Janata Party
ForbesganjNoneZakir Hussain Khan Bahujan Samaj Party
ArariaNoneBijay Kumar Mandal Independent
SiktiNoneAnandi Prasad Yadav Bharatiya Janata Party
JokihatNoneSarfraz Rashtriya Janata Dal
BahadurganjNone Zahidur Rahman Indian National Congress
ThakurganjNone Mohammad Jawed Indian National Congress
KishanganjNone Taslimuddin Rashtriya Janata Dal
AmourNone Abdul Jalil Mastan Indian National Congress
BaisiNoneAbdus Subhan Rashtriya Janata Dal
KasbaNonePradip Kr. Das Bharatiya Janata Party
PurneaNoneRaj Kishore Kesri Bharatiya Janata Party
KorhaSCMahesh Paswan Bharatiya Janata Party
BarariNoneMansoor Alam Rashtriya Janata Dal
KatiharNone Ram Prakash Mahto Rashtriya Janata Dal
KadwaNoneHimraj Singh Independent
BarsoiNoneMahboob Alam Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist)
PranpurNone Binod Singh Kushwaha Bharatiya Janata Party
ManihariNoneVishwanath Singh Janata Dal
RajmahalNoneArun Mandal Bharatiya Janata Party
BorioSTLobin Hembrom Jharkhand Mukti Morcha
BarhaitST Hemlal Murmu Jharkhand Mukti Morcha
LitiparaSTSushila Hansda Jharkhand Mukti Morcha
PakaurNone Alamgir Alam Indian National Congress
MaheshpurSTDevidhan Besra Bharatiya Janata Party
SikariparaSTNalin Soren Jharkhand Mukti Morcha
NalaNoneBisheswar Khan Communist Party of India
JamtaraNone Furkan Ansari Indian National Congress
SarathNoneShashank Shekhar Bhokta Jharkhand Mukti Morcha
MadhupurNoneHussain Ansari Jharkhand Mukti Morcha
DeogharSCSuresh Paswan Rashtriya Janata Dal
JarmundiNoneDvendra Kuwar Bharatiya Janata Party
DumkaST Stephen Marandi Jharkhand Mukti Morcha
JamaST Durga Soren Jharkhand Mukti Morcha
PoreyahatNonePradeep Yadav Bharatiya Janata Party
GoddaNoneSanjay Prasad Yadav Rashtriya Janata Dal
MahagamaNoneAshok Kumar Bharatiya Janata Party
PirpaintiNoneShobhakant Mandal Rashtriya Janata Dal
ColgongNone Sadanand Singh Indian National Congress
NathnagarNoneSudha Shrivastava Samata Party
BhagalpurNone Ashwini Kumar Chaubey Bharatiya Janata Party
GopalpurNoneRabindra Kr. Rana Rashtriya Janata Dal
BihpurNoneShailesh Kumar Rashtriya Janata Dal
SultanganjSCGanesh Paswan Samata Party
AmarpurNone Surendra Prasad Singh Kushwaha Rashtriya Janata Dal
DhuraiyaSC Bhudeo Choudhary Samata Party
BankaNoneRam Narayan Mandal Bharatiya Janata Party
BelharNoneRamdeo Yadav Rashtriya Janata Dal
KatoriaNone Giridhari Yadav Rashtriya Janata Dal
ChakaiNoneNarendra Singh Independent
JhajhaNoneDamodar Rawat Samata Party
TarapurNone Shakuni Choudhary Rashtriya Janata Dal
KharagpurNone Jay Prakash Narayan Yadav Rashtriya Janata Dal
ParbattaNoneRakesh Kr. alias Samrat Chaudhary Rashtriya Janata Dal
ChauthamNonePanna Lal Singh 'patel' Samata Party
KhagariaNone Yogendra Singh Kushwaha Communist Party of India
AlauliSC Pashupati Kumar Paras Janata Dal
MonghyrNoneMonazir Hassan Rashtriya Janata Dal
JamalpurNoneUpendra Prasad Verma Rashtriya Janata Dal
SurajgarhaNone Prahlad Yadav Rashtriya Janata Dal
JamuiNoneNarendra Singh Janata Dal
SikandraSCPrayaag ChoudharyKosal Party
LakhisaraiNoneKrishna Chandra Pd. Singh Bharatiya Janata Party
SheikhpuraNoneSanjay Kumar Singh Indian National Congress
BarbighaSC Ashok Chaudhary Indian National Congress
AsthawanNoneRaghunath Prasad Sharma Independent
BiharNoneSyed Naushadunnabi Rashtriya Janata Dal
RajgirSC Satyadev Narain Arya Bharatiya Janata Party
NalandaNoneShrawan Kumar Samata Party
IslampurNoneRamswaroop Prasad Samata Party
HilsaNoneRamcharitra Prasad Singh Samata Party
ChandiNoneHarinarain Singh Samata Party
HarnautNoneVishvamohan Choudhary Samata Party
MokamehNoneSuraj Singh Independent
BarhNoneBhunewashwar Prasad Singh Alias Pappu Jee Samata Party
BakhtiarpurNoneVinod Yadav Bharatiya Janata Party
FatwaSCDinesh Choudhary Rashtriya Janata Dal
MasaurhiNoneDharmendra Prasad Rashtriya Janata Dal
Patna WestNone Navin Kishore Sinha Bharatiya Janata Party
Patna CentralNone Sushil Kumar Modi Bharatiya Janata Party
Patna EastNone Nand Kishore Yadav Bharatiya Janata Party
DinapurNone Lalu Prasad Yadav Rashtriya Janata Dal
ManerNone Bhai Virendra Samata Party
PhulwariSC Shyam Rajak Rashtriya Janata Dal
BikramNoneRam Janam Sharma Bharatiya Janata Party
PaliganjNoneDinanath Singh Rashtriya Janata Dal
SandeshNoneVijayendra Kumar Singh Yadav Rashtriya Janata Dal
BarharaNoneRaghwendra Pratap Singh Rashtriya Janata Dal
ArrahNoneAmrendra Pratap Singh Bharatiya Janata Party
ShahpurNone Shivanand Tiwari Rashtriya Janata Dal
BrahmpurNoneAjit Chaudhary Rashtriya Janata Dal
BuxarNoneSukhada Pandey Bharatiya Janata Party
RajpurSCChhedi Lal Ram Bahujan Samaj Party
DumraonNoneDadan Singh Independent
JagdishpurNone Shri Bhagwan Singh Kushwaha Samata Party
PiroNoneNarendra Kumar Pande Samata Party
SaharSCRam Naresh Ram Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist)
KarakatNone Arun Singh Kushwaha Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist)
BikramganjNoneAkhlaque Ahmad Samata Party
DinaraNoneRam Dhani Singh Janata Dal
RamgarhNone Jagadanand Singh Rashtriya Janata Dal
MohaniaSCSuresh Pasi Bahujan Samaj Party
BhabhuaNonePramod Singh Rashtriya Janata Dal
ChainpurNone Mahabali Singh Bahujan Samaj Party
SasaramNone Ashok Kushwaha Rashtriya Janata Dal
ChenariSC Chhedi Paswan Rashtriya Janata Dal
NokhaNoneRameshwar Prasad Bharatiya Janata Party
DehriNoneMd. Ilyas Husain Rashtriya Janata Dal
NabinagarNoneBheem Kumar Rashtriya Janata Dal
DeoSCSuresh Paswan Rashtriya Janata Dal
AurangabadNoneSuresh Mehta Rashtriya Janata Dal
RafiganjNoneSushil Kumar Singh Samata Party
ObraNone Raja Ram Singh Kushwaha Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist)
GohNoneDeo Kumar Sharma Samata Party
ArwalNone Akhilesh Prasad Singh Rashtriya Janata Dal
KurthaNoneShiv Bachan Yadav Rashtriya Janata Dal
MakhdumpurNone Bagi Kumar Verma Rashtriya Janata Dal
JahanabadNone Munni Lal Yadav Rashtriya Janata Dal
GhosiNoneJagdish Sharma Independent
BelaganjNone Surendra Prasad Yadav Rashtriya Janata Dal
KonchNoneMahesh Singh Yadav Rashtriya Janata Dal
Gaya MufassilNoneVinod Kumar Yadvendu Rashtriya Janata Dal
Gaya TownNonePrem Kumar Bharatiya Janata Party
ImamganjSC Uday Narayan Chaudhary Samata Party
GuruaNoneShakeel Ahmad Kha Rashtriya Janata Dal
Bodh GayaSC Jitan Ram Manjhi Rashtriya Janata Dal
BarachattiSCBhagwatee Devi Rashtriya Janata Dal
FatehpurSCShyamdeo Paswan Rashtriya Janata Dal
AtriNone Rajendra Prasad Yadav Rashtriya Janata Dal
NawadaNoneRajballabh Prasad Rashtriya Janata Dal
RajauliSCRajaram Paswan Rashtriya Janata Dal
GobindpurNoneGayatri Devi Rashtriya Janata Dal
WarsaliganjNoneAruna Devi Independent
HisuaNoneAditya Singh Independent
KodarmaNoneAnnapurna Devi Rashtriya Janata Dal
BarhiNoneManoj Kumar Yadav Indian National Congress
ChatraSC Satyanand Bhokta Bharatiya Janata Party
SimariaSCYogendra Nath Baitha Rashtriya Janata Dal
BarkagaonNone Loknath Mahto Bharatiya Janata Party
RamgarhNoneSabir Ahmed Quaresi Alias Bhera Singh Communist Party of India
ManduNoneTeklal Mahto Jharkhand Mukti Morcha
HazaribaghNone Deo Dayal Bharatiya Janata Party
BarkathaNone Bhubneshwar Prasad Mehta Communist Party of India
DhanwarNoneRabindra Kr. Ray Bharatiya Janata Party
BagodarNoneMahendra Prasad Singh Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist)
JamuaSCBaldeo Hazra Rashtriya Janata Dal
GandeyNoneSalkhan Soren Jharkhand Mukti Morcha
GiridihNoneChandra Mohan Prasad Bharatiya Janata Party
DumriNoneLal Chand Mahto Janata Dal
GomiaNoneMadhav Lal Singh Independent
BermoNoneRajendra Prasad Singh Indian National Congress
BokaroNoneSamaresh Singh Independent
TundiNoneSaba Ahmad Rashtriya Janata Dal
BaghmaraNoneJaleshwar Mahato Samata Party
SindriNoneFulchand Mandal Bharatiya Janata Party
NirsaNoneGurudas Chaterjee Marxist Co-ordination Committee
DhanbadNonePashupati Nath Singh Bharatiya Janata Party
JhariaNoneBacha Singh Samata Party
ChandankiyariSCHaru Rajwar Jharkhand Mukti Morcha
BaharagoraNoneDinesh Kumar Sarangi Bharatiya Janata Party
GhatsilaST Pradeep Kumar Balmuchu Indian National Congress
PotkaSTMenka Sardar Bharatiya Janata Party
JugsalaiSCDulal Bhuiyan Jharkhand Mukti Morcha
Jamshedpur EastNone Raghubar Das Bharatiya Janata Party
Jamshedpur WestNone Mrigendra Pratap Singh Bharatiya Janata Party
IchagarhNoneArvind Kumar Singh Bharatiya Janata Party
SeraikellaSTAnant Ram Tudu Bharatiya Janata Party
ChaibasaSTBagun Sumbrui Indian National Congress
MajhgaonSTBadkunwar Gagrai Bharatiya Janata Party
JaganathpurST Madhu Kora Bharatiya Janata Party
ManoharpurSTJoba Majhi United Goans Democratic Party
ChakradharpurSTChumnu Oraon Bharatiya Janata Party
KharasawanST Arjun Munda Bharatiya Janata Party
TamarSTRamesh Singh Munda Samata Party
TorpaSTKoche Munda Bharatiya Janata Party
KhuntiSTNilkanth Singh Munda Bharatiya Janata Party
SilliNone Sudesh Mahto United Goans Democratic Party
KhijriSTSawna Lakra Indian National Congress
RanchiNone Chandreshwar Prasad Singh Bharatiya Janata Party
HatiaNoneRamji Lal Sharda Bharatiya Janata Party
KankeSCRam Chandra Nayak Bharatiya Janata Party
MandarSTDeo Kumar Dhan Indian National Congress
SisaiSTDinesh Oraon Bharatiya Janata Party
KolebiraSTTheodor Kiro Indian National Congress
SimdegaSTNiel Tirkey Indian National Congress
GumlaST Sudarshan Bhagat Bharatiya Janata Party
BishnupurST Chandresh Oraon Bharatiya Janata Party
LohardagaSTSadhanu Bhagat Bharatiya Janata Party
LateharSCBaidynath Ram Janata Dal
ManikaSTYamuna Singh Bharatiya Janata Party
PankiNoneMadhu Singh Samata Party
DaltonganjNone Inder Singh Namdhari Janata Dal
GarhwaNoneGirinath Singh Rashtriya Janata Dal
BhawanathpurNoneRam Chandra Pd. Keshri Samata Party
BishrampurNoneChandrashekhar Dubey Indian National Congress
ChhatarpurSCManoj Kumar Rashtriya Janata Dal
HussainabadNoneSanjay Kumar Singh Yadav Rashtriya Janata Dal

Government Formation

The result was a setback for the BJP, which in media campaigns was emerging with a massive victory. RJD emerged as the single largest party. In March 2000, Nitish Kumar was elected Chief Minister of Bihar for the first time at the behest of the Vajpayee Government in the centre. [6] NDA and allies had 151 MLAs whereas Lalu Prasad Yadav had 159 MLAs in the 324 member house. Both alliances were less than the majority mark that is 163. Nitish resigned before he could prove his numbers in the house. [7] [8] He lasted 7 days in the post. [9]

With the political manoeuvring of Lalu Yadav, Rabri Devi was sworn in as the Chief Minister again. [10] The ruling Rashtriya Janata Dal agreed to the formation of Jharkhand though a large chunk of Bihar's revenues went to the new State, because the party then had a majority of its own in the Bihar Assembly after the bifurcation of the State.


The media largely failed to gauge the ground level polarisation in Bihar. [5] According to Sanjay Kumar:

there can be no doubt about one thing that the upper-caste media was always anti-Lalu and it was either not aware of the ground level polarisation in Bihar, or deliberately ignored it. If the election result did not appear as a setback for RJD, it was largely because of the bleak picture painted by the media. Against this background, RJD's defeat had appeared like a victory. [11]

Even after serving imprisonment in connection with the 1997 scam, Lalu seemed to relish his role as the lower-caste jester. He argued that corruption charges against him and his family were the conspiracy of the upper-caste bureaucracy and media elites threatened by the rise of peasant cultivator castes.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sadhu Yadav</span> Indian politician based in Bihar

Anirudh Prasad Yadav, better known as Sadhu Yadav, is an Indian politician and founder of Garib Janta Dal (Secular). He has served in 14th Lok Sabha as MP of Gopalganj from 2004 to 2009 as Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) candidate. Sadhu was MLA of Gopalganj assembly from 2000 to 2004.

Kushwaha is a community of the Indo-Gangetic Plain that has traditionally been involved in agriculture, including beekeeping. The term has been used to represent different sub-castes of the Kachhis, Kachhvahas, Koeris and Muraos. Under the Indian governments system of positive discrimination, the Kushwahas are classified as a "Backward" or Other backward class. The Kushwaha had worshipped Shiva and Shakta, but beginning in the 20th century, they claim descent from the Suryavansh (Solar) dynasty via Kusha, one of the twin sons of Rama and Sita. At present, it is a broad community formed by coming together of several caste groups with similar occupational backgrounds and socio-economic status, who, over the time, started inter-marrying among themselves and created all India caste network for caste solidarity. The communities which merged into this caste cluster includes Kachhi, Kachhwaha, Kushwaha, Mali, Marrar, Saini, Sonkar, Murai, Shakya, Maurya, Koeri and Panara.

The 2009 Indian general election in Bihar were held for 40 seats with the state going to polls in the first four phases of the general elections. The major contenders in the state were the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), Indian National Congress and the Fourth Front. NDA consisted of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Janata Dal (United) whereas the fourth front was constituted of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) and the Samajwadi Party (SP).

The politics of Bihar, an eastern state of India, is dominated by regional political parties. As of 2021, the main political groups are Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Janata Dal (United) (JDU), Indian National Congress (INC), Left Front, Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM). There are also some smaller regional parties, including Samata Party, Hindustani Awam Morcha, Rashtriya Jan Jan Party, Rashtriya Lok Janata Dal, Jan Adhikar Party and Vikassheel Insaan Party, Lok Janshakti Party and Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party, which play a vital role in politics of state. As of 2024, Bihar is currently ruled by NDA, after JDU break out from Mahagatbandhan (Grandalliance) coalition and returned to NDA fold.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Raghopur Assembly constituency</span> Vidhan Sabha constituency

Raghopur Assembly constituency is an assembly constituency in Vaishali district in the Indian state of Bihar. It consists of Raghopur and Bidupur.

The Koeri, also referred to as Kushwaha and more recently self-described as Maurya in several parts of northern India are an Indian non-elite caste, found largely in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, whose traditional occupation was agriculture. According to Arvind Narayan Das they were horticulturist rather than agriculturists. They are also recorded as performing the work of Mahajan in credit market of rural parts of Bihar and Bengal in 1880s. Koeris have attempted Sanskritisation— as part of social resurgence. During the British rule in India, Koeris were described as "agriculturalists" along with Kurmis and other cultivating castes. They are described as a dominant caste in various opinions.

The Paswan, also known as Dusadh, are a Dalit community from eastern India. They are found mainly in the states of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand. The Urdu word Paswan means bodyguard or "one who defends". The origin of the word, per the belief of the community, lies in their participation in the battle against Siraj-ud-daulah, the Nawab of Bengal at the behest of British East India Company, after which they were rewarded with the post of Chowkidars and lathi wielding tax collector for the Zamindars. They follow certain rituals such as walking on fire to assert their valour.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chhedi Paswan</span> Indian politician (born 1956)

Chhedi Paswan is a former member of 16th Lok Sabha and a former member of Bihar Legislative Assembly. He represents the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) since 2014. At various points, he has been with Janata Party, then its Charan Singh faction, then the reunited Janata Dal, Bahujan Samaj Party, Nationalist Congress Party, Lalu Prasad Yadav's RJD and Nitish Kumar's JD(U).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Upendra Kushwaha</span> Former Minister of State for Human Resource Development, India

Upendra Kumar Singh, commonly known as Upendra Kushwaha is an Indian politician, and a former Member of Bihar Legislative Council and Bihar Legislative Assembly. He has also served as Minister of State for Human Resources and Development in the Government of India. Kushwaha is a former Member of Parliament (MP) from the Karakat constituency in Rohtas district, Bihar, and a former member of the Rajya Sabha. He was the leader of Rashtriya Samata Party (RSP), his own party, which merged into Janata Dal (United) (JDU) in 2009. Later, he formed Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP), which also merged with JD(U) in 2021. On 20 February 2023, Kushwaha resigned from all positions in Janata Dal (United) and formed his own party called Rashtriya Lok Morcha due to his political problems with JD(U) and Nitish Kumar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jitan Ram Manjhi</span> Former chief minister of Bihar

Jitan Ram Manjhi is an Indian politician from the eastern state of Bihar who served as its 23rd Chief Minister from 20 May 2014 to 20 February 2015. He was the founding President of Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM). Previously, he had served as minister for scheduled castes and scheduled tribes welfare in Nitish Kumar's cabinet. He has been a minister in several Bihar state governments, under multiple chief ministers like Chandrashekhar Singh, Bindeshwari Dubey, Satyendra Narayan Sinha, Jagannath Mishra, Lalu Prasad Yadav and Rabri Devi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2015 Bihar Legislative Assembly election</span> Election in India

The Legislative Assembly election was held over five phases in Bihar through October–November 2015 before the end of the tenure of the prior Legislative Assembly of Bihar on 29 November 2015.

Mahagathbandhan also known as Grand Alliance, is a coalition of political parties in the Eastern state of Bihar in India, formed ahead of the 2015 Vidhan Sabha elections in Bihar. The alliance consists of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Indian National Congress (INC) and Left parties including Communist Party of India (CPI), Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation-CPIML (Liberation) and Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPIM), with Tejashwi Yadav as the chairperson.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2020 Bihar Legislative Assembly election</span> Election in India

The Bihar Legislative Assembly election was held in three phases through October–November to elect members to the Seventeenth Bihar Legislative Assembly. The term of the previous Sixteenth Legislative Assembly of Bihar ended on 29 November 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Samrat Choudhary</span> Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar

Samrat Choudhary alias Rakesh Kumar is an Indian politician, who is currently serving as Deputy Chief minister of Bihar under Nitish Kumar. He is a Member of Bihar Legislative Council from the Bharatiya Janata Party. He has been the party president of BJP Bihar State unit from March 2023. He has also remained Member of Legislative Assembly and a minister in Government of Bihar in Rashtriya Janata Dal government. Chaudhary has been a former Vice President of BJP for the state of Bihar and currently elected for the second term as MLC in 2020 after his first term ended in 2019. In 2014, Samrat planned a split in Rashtriya Janata Dal by defecting thirteen MLAs as splinter group of the party, later joining the BJP. In 2022, he was selected as the Leader of Opposition in Bihar Legislative Council.

The Upper Backward Caste is a term used to describe the middle castes in Bihar, whose social and ritual status was not very low and which has traditionally been involved in the agricultural and animal husbandry related activities in the past. They have also been involved in low scale trade to some extent. The Koeri, Kurmi, Yadav and Bania are categorised as the upper-backwards amongst the Other Backward Class group; while the various other caste groups which constitutes the OBC, a group comprising 51% of the population of state of Bihar, has been classified as lower backwards. The upper-backwards also called upper OBC represents approximately 20.3% of the population of Bihar. These agricultural caste were the biggest beneficiaries of the land reform drive which was undertaken in the 1950s in the state and they strengthened their economic position by gaining a significant portion of excess land under the ceiling laws, which prohibited the ownership of land above a certain ceiling.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Luv-Kush equation</span> Political term used in Bihar, India

The Luv-Kush equation is a political term used in the context of the politics of Bihar, to denote the alliance of the agricultural Kurmi and the Koeri caste, which was assumed to be approximately 15% of the state's population The alliance of these two caste groups has remained the support base of Nitish Kumar, as against the MY equation of Lalu Prasad Yadav, which constitutes Muslims and the Yadavs. Caste consciousness and the quest for political representation largely drive the politics of Bihar. The political alliance of the Koeri and the Kurmi castes, termed the "Luv-Kush equation" was formed when a massive Kurmi Chetna Rally was organised by members of the Kurmi community in 1994 against the alleged casteist politics of Lalu Yadav, who was blamed by contemporary community leaders for promoting Yadavs in politics and administration.

References

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  11. Sanjay Kumar (2018). "Re-emergence of RJD: elections of 2000". Post-Mandal Politics in Bihar: Changing Electoral Patterns. SAGE publishing India. pp. 85–86. ISBN   978-9352805860. Archived from the original on 6 August 2022. Retrieved 19 December 2020.