Bihar Assembly Election 2020: Sudarshan Kumar’s joining JD(U) changed equations in Barbigha Assembly Constituency

Sudarshan Kumar switching from Congress to JD(U) is being seen as a blow to the Mahagathbandhan as Kumar is a heavyweight leader.

Barbigha Assembly constituency’s Congress MLA Sudarshan Kumar joined JD(U) in September. JD(U)’s Gajanand Shahi who was the MLA from 2010 to 2015 switched to the Congress. Now, they are fighting each other as the constituency goes to the polls on October 28. LJP’s Madhukar Kumar is prominent candidate to make the contest challenging.

A view of a gathering of people during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s election campaign rally in Sasaram, Bihar (Photo by Santosh Kumar/ Hindustan Times)

Barbigha Assembly constituency is located in Sheikhpura district and comes under the Nawada Lok Sabha constituency. As per the estimates of 2011 census, out of total 2,95,253 population, 84.39% is rural and 15.61% is urban population. The Scheduled castes (SC) and Scheduled tribes (ST) ratio is 22.22 and 0.1, respectively. As per the voter list of 2019, there are 2,17,305 electorates and 234 polling stations in this constituency. Voter turnout was 50.92% in 2019 Lok Sabha elections where as it was 54.53% in the 2015 assembly elections. In 2015, Sudarshan Kumar defeated RLSP candidate Sheo Kumar by a margin of 15,717 votes.

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Sudarshan Kumar switching from Congress to JD(U) is being seen as a blow to the Mahagathbandhan as Kumar is a heavyweight leader.

In 2020, the total number of electorates in this constituency stands at 2, 25, 603. Out of this, 1, 17, 447 are make and 1, 08, 156 are female.