Bihar assembly election 2020: BJP aims to continue winning streak in bastion Banmankhi

Bihar tourism minister Krishna Kumar Rishi is the sitting MLA, having won four straight terms. The BJP, which has once again fielded Rishi, has won this seat in six out of seven assembly elections since 1990.

An assembly constituency in Bihar’s Purnia district, Banmankhi is a seat reserved for scheduled caste (SC) candidates. It is among the 78 assembly constituencies that will go to polls in the third and final phase of polling of the ongoing Bihar assembly elections, on November 7.

Voters show their voter ids while standing in a queue to cast their vote at a polling booth during the second phase of Bihar assembly elections, at Diyara Manash Gaon, in Danapur, Patna, Bihar, India, on Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020 (Photo by Santosh Kumar/ Hindustan Times)

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Banmankhi is a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) bastion as the party has won this seat in six out of seven assembly elections since 1990. The party’s sitting MLA from here is state tourism minister Krishna Kumar Rishi, who won this seat in 2015, 2010 and the two assembly polls in 2005.

In the 2015 assembly polls, Rishi defeated Sanjiv Kumar Paswan of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD). In what was a very close contest, Rishi won 59,053 or 35.82% of the total votes cast here, as against Paswan’s 58,345 or 35.39% votes.

For the ongoing elections, the BJP has once again trusted Rishi. His chief competitor will be Upendra Sharma of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD). A total of 307,276 voters are eligible to cast their vote from Banmankhi across 442 polling stations.

The three-phase Bihar assembly elections 2020 began on October 28 with 71 of the state’s 243 assembly constituencies going to polls. Polling took place in 94 seats in the second phase on November 3. Counting of votes will take place on November 10.

Bihar CM and Janata Dal(United) president Nitish Kumar is the chief ministerial candidate of the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA), which also comprises, among others, the BJP. RJD, which leads the opposition alliance--the Mahagathbandhan--has fielded party leader Tejashwi Yadav as the alliance’s chief ministerial face.