Patna: The Tirhut graduates’ constituency election for the legislative council has become a multi-cornered contest, with polling scheduled for Oct 23.Altogether 17 candidates remain in the field. The constituency covers Muzaffarpur, Vaishali, Sitamarhi and Sheohar districts and has nearly 1.44 lakh registered graduate electors, making it one of north Bihar’s most politically significant seats.The election is being seen as a test of changing regional alignments, caste equations, party organisations and the appeal of alternative political platforms. The seat was long considered a JD(U) stronghold under Devesh Chandra Thakur, who won it four times. Thakur first won in 2002 as an independent candidate and retained it in 2008, also as an independent though backed by JD(U). He later won in 2014 and 2020 as the official JD(U) candidate.The political situation changed after Thakur moved to Lok Sabha in 2024. In the Dec 2024 bypoll that followed, suspended schoolteacher Banshidhar Brajwasi, contesting as an independent candidate, delivered an upset by winning with 23,003 votes and a margin of 10,915. Jan Suraaj’s Vinayak Gautam polled 12,467 votes, RJD’s Gopi Kishan secured 11,600, and JD(U)’s Abhishek Jha finished fourth with 10,316 votes.Brajwasi’s short term ends on Nov 16, and the present election will decide whether established parties can regain control or whether independent and issue-based politics continues to influence graduate electors.The contest has been further complicated by Vinayak Gautam’s shift from Jan Suraaj to RJD. Now, RJD has fielded his wife, Rashmi Vinayak Gautam, while Prashant Kishor-led Jan Suraaj has nominated Vimohan Kumar. JD(U) has again chosen Abhishek Jha, hoping to rebuild its traditional support base.Kishor, campaigning in Sitamarhi, said a Jan Suraaj win would pressure the state govt to fulfil pending promises, including the 7th pay scale for all categories of teachers. He also promised jobs for 10,000 graduates from the constituency if his party wins.Campaign activity has intensified across all four districts, with candidates relying on personal contacts with graduates, caste equations and booth-level party structures to mobilise electors ahead of polling.With intense campaigning underway, all eyes are now on the Oct 27 counting date, which will reveal who commands the mandate of Tirhut’s intelligentsia.
