First Karakat, now Siwan… know why this time BJP is focusing on RJD’s base ‘Bhojpuri belt’

Leader of Opposition in Bihar Assembly Tejashwi Yadav and Prime Minister Narendra Modi -Photo-ANI

Before the Bihar assembly elections, BJP has focused on Bhojpuri belt. PM Modi’s second public meeting is to be held in the Bhojpuri belt of Bihar within three weeks.

PM Modi, who arrived in Patna on May 29, did a road show in Patna and in a program organized in Bikramganj of Karakat, he gave the gift of development projects worth Rs 47500 crore to the state. PM Modi also addressed a public meeting in Bikramganj. Bikramganj comes under Karakat Lok Sabha seat.

This is the second rally of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Bhojpuri belt within three weeks. The question is why has the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) fielded its biggest face in the Bhojpuri belt even before the announcement of the assembly election program? Why is the party so focused on the Bhojpuri belt, which is called Purvanchal of Bihar?

Bhojpuri has an influence on about a hundred seats in Bihar

Talking about the Bhojpuri belt of Bihar, it includes four districts of Shahabad region – Bhojpur, Buxar, Kaimur and Rohtas as well as Siwan, Gopalganj, Aurangabad, West Champaran and East Champaran districts. There are eight assembly seats in Siwan district, 10 in Saran, six in Gopalganj district, seven in Bhojpur, four in Buxar, four in Kaimur, seven in Rohtas.

Similarly, there are six assembly seats in Aurangabad, nine in West Champaran and 12 in East Champaran district. There are 73 seats in 10 districts of Bhojpuri belt. Apart from these Bhojpuri speaking districts, Bhojpuri is also spoken in some areas of districts like Muzaffarpur, Katihar. The number of such seats is also about two dozen, where Bhojpuri speaking voters play an important role in deciding victory or defeat. Overall, Bhojpuri has an influence on about 100 assembly seats in the state.

Bhojpuri belt had dented BJP

In the Lok Sabha elections held last year, BJP and its led NDA had to suffer heavy losses in the Bhojpuri belt seats. The party lost the Buxar Lok Sabha seat, which is considered to be the stronghold of BJP, and along with Ara, strong seats like Sasaram, Karakat, Aurangabad also slipped from NDA. Two ministers of Modi government, Ashwini Choubey and RK Singh, were defeated in the electoral battlefield.

Even a stalwart like Upendra Kushwaha had to face defeat in Karakat seat. NDA did manage to win Siwan seat, but narrowly. NDA candidate from Siwan, Vijaylakshmi Devi of Janata Dal (United), defeated her nearest rival independent Hina Shahab by 92857 votes. Then the RJD candidate got 1 lakh 98 thousand 823 votes. Before the assembly elections, equations have changed in Siwan too and Hina’s family is now in RJD.

RJD’s base was proved in 2020

Bihar’s Bhojpuri belt proved to be RJD’s base in the 2020 assembly elections. Out of 73 assembly seats in 10 Bhojpuri-speaking districts, 45 seats were won by the opposition grand alliance led by Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) candidates. In the belt which was considered the stronghold of BJP and NDA, the ruling alliance was reduced to 27 seats.

One assembly seat of this belt also went to the account of Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party. In terms of seats, the grand alliance got 45 seats as compared to NDA’s 27, which is more than one and a half times. NDA’s account could not even be opened in Buxar, Rohtas, Kaimur and Aurangabad.

Performance in two consecutive elections. Seeing this, the party became active

BJP, which is leading the NDA at the national level, became alert after the loss in Bhojpuri belt in two consecutive elections. This time, BJP, which is trying to strengthen its position, started working to woo the voters of Bhojpuri belt much before the announcement of the election schedule. Whether it was Prime Minister Narendra Modi starting his address in Bhojpuri language during his Mauritius tour just before Holi or now the second rally in Bhojpuri belt within three weeks, all this is being considered a part of this exercise.