t's known for Naxalite-Ranvir Sena clashes. But this time the Arrah constituency in Bihar has made headlines for a different reason. The notorious Ranvir Sena founder Brahmeshwar Singh has decided to contest from here from jail, mainly to defeat the Laloo-led Rashtirya Janata Dal.
Singh, who was arrested in 2002, is in Arrah jail. Sena is alleged to have killed about 300 people since it came into existence in 1994 to oppose the Communist Party of India-Marxist Leninist (CPI-ML) that was espousing the cause of tillers and backward classes.
RJD's Ram Prasad Singh represented Arrah in the just-dissolved Lok Sabha. In 1999, Ram Prasad Singh of Rashtriya Janata Dal had defeated HP Singh of JD(U) by 92,328 votes in a 15-cornered contest.
In 1998, the seat had gone to HP Singh of SAP, who had drubbed Chandra Deo Yadav of Rashtriya Janata Dal by 58,164 votes. The seat had gone to Janata Dal in 1996 when Chandra Deo Prasad Verma drubbed Ram Prasad Singh of SAP by 41041 votes.
Surajdeo Singh, the much-maligned friend of former prime minister Chandra Shekhar and the 'don of Dhanbad', was sent packing when he contested here on a Janata Party in 1991 by the JD's Ram Lakhan Singh Yadav. In 1996, when Yadav contested on a Congress ticket he was sent to the fourth position, some 22,000 votes behind the CPI-ML candidate.
{{/usCountry}}Surajdeo Singh, the much-maligned friend of former prime minister Chandra Shekhar and the 'don of Dhanbad', was sent packing when he contested here on a Janata Party in 1991 by the JD's Ram Lakhan Singh Yadav. In 1996, when Yadav contested on a Congress ticket he was sent to the fourth position, some 22,000 votes behind the CPI-ML candidate.
{{/usCountry}}Arrah was in Shahabad South Lok Sabha constituency in 1952 and Shabhabad Lok Sabha constituency in 1957, 1962, 1967 and 1971.
Caste equation
The community-wise break-up in the constituency is: Muslims (5), Scheduled Castes (17%), Ahirs (18%), Rajputs (8%), Brahmins (7%), and Kurmis Koeris and Bhumihars around 5% each. Chamars (8%) and Dosadhs (5%) are the dominant Scheduled Castes in the constituency.