BJP's Ravi Shankar Prasad wins Bihar's Patna Sahib Lok Sabha constituency

Former Union Minister and senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Ravi Shankar Prasad won in Bihar's Patna Sahib against Anshul Avijit of the Congress party.

Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former Union minister, Ravi Shankar Prasad won against the Congress candidate Anshul Avijit, from Bihar’s Patna Sahib constituency by a margin of 1,53,846 votes, the Election Commission of India (ECI) wesbite reported.

BJP candidate Ravi Shankar Prasad, accompanied by his wife, casts his vote during the seventh and final phase of Lok Sabha elections in Patna. (PTI)

Prasad’s nearest rival, Anshul Avijit lost by securing 4,34,424 votes. Avijit is the son of former Lok Sabha speaker and Congress leader Meira Kumar. Prasad is seeking a second consecutive term from the constituency.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, he defeated actor-turned-politician Shatrughan Sinha, who was then associated with the Congress party. The BJP leader secured a whopping vote share of 61.85%, while Sinha received 28.98%.

Established in 2008, Patna Sahib comprises six assembly constituencies including Bakhtiarpur, Digha, Bankipur, Kumhrar, Patna Sahib, and Fatuha. It made its electoral debut in 2009 and has been held by the BJP since then.

In the inaugural elections held in 2009 and 2014, the seat was won by Shatrughan Sinha as a member of the BJP. Sinha joined the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress in March 2022 and shifted his base to Asansol in West Bengal.

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Prasad, aged 69, began his political career in the 1970s as a student leader under the leadership of Jayaprakash Narayan. He also served as the national vice president of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) from 1991 to 1995.

He was elected to the Rajya Sabha for the first time in April 2000. When Atal Bihari Vajpayee was Prime Minister, Prasad served as the minister of state in the Ministry of Coal from 2001 to 2003.

As the Minister of Information and Broadcasting from 2003 to 2004, Prasad is credited with introducing reforms in the radio, television, and animation sectors, which improved their quality and functioning.

Under Narendra Modi’s leadership, Ravi Shankar Prasad was appointed as the Union Minister of Law and Justice on May 27, 2014. He held the ministry for three different terms, first from May 2014 to November 2014, second from July 2016 to May 2019, and third from May 2019 to July 2021.

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The Triple Talaq Bill was also introduced by him in Parliament. He argued that the bill was an attempt by the BJP government to deliver justice and respect for women, and was not about any religion or community.

Patna Sahib went to the polls in the seventh phase on June 1 and recorded a voter turnout of 45 per cent. The Lok Sabha polls for 543 seats were held in seven phases starting from April 19, with the last phase on June 1. The Bharatiya Janata Party is seeking a rare third term at the Centre with Narendra Modi as Prime Minister.