Amar Ujala Ground Report
– Photo: Amar Ujala Graphics
Expansion
Jhanjharpur is a small town. Now there is no such specialty for which it is known. But among the few seats in Bihar where the contest is very interesting in the third phase, this Lok Sabha seat adjacent to Darbhanga and Madhubani is also included. This time Ram Preet Mandal from NDA and Suman Kumar Mahaseth from Grand Alliance are in the fray. But the most interesting is the entry of Gulab Singh. RJD rebel Gulab Singh Yadav is contesting the election on a ticket from BSP. He stood second in the last election. RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav did not agree even after persuasion. Suman Kumar is certain to suffer loss from them.
Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) has got three seats from RJD’s quota in the grand alliance, Gopalganj, Motihari and Jhanjharpur. The party has fielded Suman here. Interestingly, when Mukesh Sahni’s party VIP announced to go with the Grand Alliance, there was a stampede in his own party and many leaders joined JDU. Sahni had campaigned for BJP in the 2015 elections. He has worked as a stage designer in Bollywood films and his film company is in the name of Mukesh Cineworld. Even in the last Lok Sabha elections, he had got three seats from the Grand Alliance, but could not win any. He is called the son of a sailor. Till 27 March 2022, he was the Animal Husbandry Minister in the Government of Bihar.
74 on bronze utensils, freedom struggle and letters
Situated on the banks of Kamala and Balan rivers, this city was earlier famous for its bronze utensils. During the Quit India Movement of 1942, Jhanjharpur police station was burnt by freedom fighters. At present it is a part of Madhubani district. It is said that in 1753 AD, there was a battle at Kandarpi Ghat between the forces of Mithilesh Narendra Singh and Ali Vardi, in which Mithilesh won. 74 pieces of sacred thread stained with dust and blood were collected from the battlefield. Even today there is a tradition of writing 74 on letters in this area. It is believed that if anyone other than the person in whose name the letter is addressed opens it, he will be guilty of the sin of killing that many Brahmins. After the defeat at the hands of Mohammad Ghori, the leaders of Prithviraj Chauhan scattered here and there. One of them, Jujhar Singh, made this place his base. His name was corrupted from Jhanjhar to Jhanjharpur.
Jagannath Mishra, Dhanik Lal Mandal and Rajhans
In fact, Jagannath Mishra, who was a big name in the politics of Bihar, became MP in 1972 and later Chief Minister by winning from this seat. In the years 1977 and 1980, Dhanik Lal Mandal of Congress also became MP from here. In 1984, Gaurishankar Rajhans of Congress won from here. Devendra Singh Yadav was MP from this seat five times and also became a minister in the central government. Devendra won thrice consecutively in 1989, 91 and 96 on Janata Dal ticket and in 1999 and 2004 on RJD ticket. In 1998, this seat went to RJD’s Mangni Lal Mandal. In 2009, Mangani Lal Mandal from JDU again became MP. In 2014, for the first time, BJP won this seat in the Modi wave and Virendra Kumar Choudhary became MP. In 2019, JDU’s Rampreet Mandal won. Then BJP and JDU had contested the elections together.
Issues and Voters
There were 18,52,417 voters here in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Six assembly seats are attached to this parliamentary seat. Girish, who lives near Naulakha Palace in Rajnagar, says, this area is very backward, no one has worked here. Whereas in Rajnagar, Jeevan Sharma says that BJP is doing good work, it should win. But, everything was messed up by giving ticket to JD(U) from here. If he had been a BJP candidate, he would have won outright. Perhaps that is why there is a triangular contest on this seat.
