The Gaya Lok Sabha constituency, one of the 40 in Bihar, comprises of six assembly seats - Sherghati, Barachatti, Bodhgaya, Gaya Town, Belaganj, and Wazirganj. Of these Barachatti and Bodhgaya are reserved seats.
Gaya votes in the first phase of the Lok Sabha elections on 19 April, 2024 with the results being announced with the rest of the country on 4 June 2024.
During the last Lok Sabha elections in 2019, Gaya had a voter turnout of 55.8% with Vijay Kumar of JD(U) winning the seat by garnering more than 48% of votes polled. Jitan Ram Manjhi from the Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) was his closest competitor and lost after winning only 314,581 votes.
The 2024 face-off sees the NDA Alliance fielding Jitan Ram Manjhi from HAMs against the Mahagathbandhan’s largest coalition member the RJD’s Kumar Sarvjeet.
Jitan Ram Manjhi, a former Chief Minster of Bihar, who held office between May 2014 to February 2015, has contested from Gaya, unsuccessfully, on three previous occasions. 2024 also promises to be a tough fight as Kumar Sarvjeet, incumbent MLA from Bodh Gaya and a former minister in the Mahagathbandhan government, is a strong local favourite.
Kumar Sarvjeet former Minister of Tourism in the Bihar government, has won the Bodh Gaya assembly seat twice. An engineer from the reputed BITS Mesra, he has been at the forefront of initiating campaign strategies and digital outreach for the RJD.
While Gaya has historically favoured the NDA, Manjhi hasn’t managed to win local favour. Manjhi has the support of the BJP, JD (U), LJP, and National Lok Samata Party (RLSP), while Kumar Sarvjaeet has strong political backing of the RJD dominant Mahgathbandhan.
The 2019 elections saw the NDA alliance winning 39 out of the 40 seats in Bihar. Gaya was won by JDU, a part of the NDA block’s Vijay Kumar.
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