Hotbed of politics, Bihar has always been in the spotlight because of its turbulent political record, Nitishs famous defecting acts, caste dynamics, regional and social challenges and for giving the country prominent leaders who spearheaded several movements. Five years ago, the BJP-led NDA had made a clean sweep in half a dozen of Bihars seats out of a total of 40 constituencies. The elections to Bihars 40 Lok Sabha seats were held in seven phases that began on April 19 and ended on June 1. There are a dozen of its seats that are extremely crucial as they would determine the fate of contesting leaders belonging to the countrys prominent parties namely Congress, BJP, JDU and more. Some of such seats include:Hajipur: The seat is held by Pashupati Kumar Paras, the only Union cabinet minister from Bihar who is from outside the BJP. He made his debut in 2019 when his late brother Ram Vilas Paswan decided to choose the Rajya Sabha route. This time, Ram Vilas Paswans son Chirag Paswan, two-time MP and president of Lok Janshakti party is contesting the elections as the main candidate, up against Shiv Chandra Ram of RJD, who was defeated in previous terms by his uncle in 2019 by a margin of 20.41 per cent. Begusarai: Known for its terrifying crime records, the Begusarai seat has always been in the limelight. Especially in the last term when it had witnessed a high-level octane between BJPs Giriraj Singh and former JNU students union president Kanhaiya Kumar. While Kanhaiya is contesting from North East Delhi constituency, important faces for Begusarai seat include Giriraj Singh of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Abdhesh Kumar Roy of the Communist Party of India (CPI), Ram Badan Rai of the Karpoori Janta Dal (KRJD), and Md Shahnawaz Hassan of the Independent (IND).Patna Sahib: This constituency of Bihar has always held a pertinent position in the political arena which covers the capital city and is represented by BJPs Ravi Shankar Prasad who made his Lok Sabha debut in 2019. According to early trends, Anshul Avijit, the son of former Lok Sabha speaker and Congress leader Meira Kumar, is Prasads closest opponent for the seat. Prasad is running for the seat for a second term in a row. Last time he had defeated actor and politician Shatrughan Sinha, who was associated with the Congress party. Pataliputra: Adjacent to Patna Sahib, the seat encompasses the rural Patna district. Although second-term BJP MP Ram Kripal Yadavs victory margins may not have been as impressive, the significance of his victories resides in his two victories over the RJD presidents daughter, Lalu Prasad. In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, 22 candidates were contesting from the Pataliputra Lok Sabha constituency. In 2019 the number of contestants for this seat was 25, while in 2014 there were 20 candidates, and the number was 16 in the 2009 polls. This time the seat is witnessing a tough contest between Ram Kripal Yadav and Misha Bharti from Rashtriya Janata Dal. Kishanganj: Kishanganj is the only seat in Bihar where the Muslim population is above fifty per cent of the total. As such, there is always some intrigue around this area before elections. The Congress has been in power for three terms running, and only Mohd Javed, the partys rookie, defeated the BJP-led NDA, which had supported the JD(U) in Bihar in 2019. But the seat does not lend itself to facile clichés in 1999, voters supported Syed Shahnawaz Hussain, the BJP candidate. And had also elected non-Muslim, socialist leader Lakhan Lal Kapoor before. This shows that the constituency does not lend itself to easy generalizations.
