Bihar assembly elections 2020: NDA fields first female candidate from Gaura Bauram

The ruling NDA coalition has allotted this seat to the Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP), which has fielded Swarna Singh as its candidate. Gaura Bauram came into existence in 2008 and has witnessed two assembly elections--in 2010 and 2015--both of which were won by the JD(U), which is a member of the NDA.

The Janata Dal(United)-held Gaura Bauram assembly constituency falls in Bihar’s Darbhanga district. This constituency was formed after delimitation in 2008, and, as such, has been witness to only two state assembly elections--2010 and 2015--both of which were won by JD(U) candidates.

Voters undergo thermal screening before casting vote during the first phase of Bihar assembly elections, at Bikram constituency, in Patna on Wednesday, Oct 28, 2020 (Photo by Parwaz Khan / Hindustan Times)

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Gauram Bauram is among the 94 assembly constituencies which will go to polls in the second phase of polling of the ongoing Bihar assembly elections, on November 3. Bihar Food and Consumer Protection minister, Madan Sahni, is the incumbent MLA, though, for these polls, he has been fielded from another constituency.

In 2015, Sahni had won this seat over Vinod Sahni of the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP). A total of 120,707 voters, out of 228,697 eligible voters, had cast their votes from this constituency. Of these, while Madan Sahni emerged victorious with 51,403 or 42.58% votes, Vinod Sahni was the runner-up with 37,341 or 30.93% votes.

Meanwhile, in the 2010 polls, Dr Izhar Ahmad of the JD(U) had defeated Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) candidate Dr Mahavir Prasad to become the first MLA from Gaura Bauram.

For the 2020 assembly elections, the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has allotted this seat to the Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP), which has fielded Swarna Singh as the coalition’s candidate. Singh is the first female candidate to be contesting from this seat.This is also the home turf of VIP founder-president, Mukesh Sahani.

A total of 24 candidates are in the fray from this constituency. The RJD, which heads the opposition Mahagathbandhan alliance, has fielded Afzal Ali Khan. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) rebel Rajiv Kumar Thakur is the candidate of Chirag Paswan’s LJP.

Read: A hat-trick for JDU on Vaishali assembly seat?

The 2020 Bihar assembly elections began on October 28, with 71 of the state’s total 243 constituencies going to vote. 78 will cast their votes in the third and final phase on November 7. Counting of votes will take place on November 10.