Araria, the northernmost district of Bihar, shares a border with Nepal to the north, Purnea to the south, and Kishanganj and Madhepura to the east and west respectively. During the British Raj, the area was under the administration of district collector and municipal commissioner Alexander John Forbes.
The place where the bungalow of John Forbes was situated, was called the ‘residential area’ or ‘R-area in short. Consequently, the deteriorated form of ‘R-area’ became ‘Araria’ for the time being. The Araria Lok Sabha seat comprises of six assembly constituencies: Araria, Jokihat, Forbesganj, Narpatganj, Raniganj, and Sikti. Forbesganj is also named after Alexander John Forbes.
Congress MP Tulmohan Ram
Before, becoming a new Parliamentary constituency in 1967 by delimitation, Araria was part of the Purnea Parliamentary constituency. In the 1967 general elections, Indian National Congress (INC) candidate Tulmohan Ram garnered an impressive 1,34,162 votes and defeated BJS candidate J. Ram by a margin of 70,649 votes.
In the 1971 elections for the third Lok Sabha, INC candidate Tulmohan Ram continued his streak of success by securing 1,34,162 votes, defeating Dumar Lal Baitha who received 50,977 votes.
First non-Congress MP of Araria
From 1967 to 1977, the Araria seat was held by the Indian National Congress (INC). However, Congress lost this seat in the 1977 general elections. In this election, Bharatiya Lok Dal (BLD) candidate Mahendra Narayan Sardar became the first non-Congress MP from Araria, defeating Congress incumbent MP Dumar Lal Baitha with a margin of 1,08,534 votes.
It is worth mentioning that Prime Minister Indira Gandhi declared an emergency in 1975, which caused widespread discontent among the people towards the Congress party. Protests were organized against the government under socialist leader Jay Prakash Narayan aka JP. Thousands of protesters were sent to jail. The 1977 general elections revolved around the issue of the emergency.
As a result, the Congress party suffered a significant defeat in the wake of the JP movement. Bharatiya Lok Dal emerged as a strong contender, securing a remarkable victory by winning 295 seats nationwide including Araria.
However, Dumar Lal Baitha made a significant comeback on the Congress ticket in the subsequent election and became MP in the 1980 general elections. In this election, Naval Kishore Bharti was defeated by Dumar Lal Baitha by the margin of 62,824 ballots.
Contesting on the ticket of the Congress, Dumar Lal Baitha continued his winning streak in the 1984 general elections. He garnered an impressive 2, 94,582 votes, defeating Mahendra Narayan Sardar by a significant margin of 1, 98,886 votes.
Congress MP Dumar Lal Baitha
Dumar Lal Baitha played an important role in implementing the Land Reforms Act and worked for the upliftment of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes in general and the education of the children in particular. During 1963-67, he served as state minister for housing and welfare, and during 1967-72, served as cabinet minister for Health, Labour, and education.
He was born in 1952 at Balua Kaliganj, a village in Palasi block in Araria. He got his education from Lee Academy, Forbesganj, B. N. College, Patna, and A. R. A. College. Additionally, he also pursued law at Patna Law College. He was a Lawyer by profession and had also served as a member of more than a dozen boards. During the period of 1952-1972, he was elected as a Member of the Bihar Legislative Assembly from Forbesganj, Raniganj, and Narpatganj assembly seats.
Sukdeo Paswan: Five-time Dalit MP
In the 1989 Lok Sabha elections, Janta Dal candidate Sukdeo Paswan emerged victorious, defeating Congress incumbent MP Dumar Lal Baitha, by 72,655 votes. In the elections, Sukdeo Paswan secured 2, 45,693 votes, while his opponent Dumar Lal Baitha got 1, 73,038 votes.
In the 1991 general elections, Sukdeo Paswan continued his winning streak, by defeating Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) candidate Sukha Paswan, with a significant margin of 1,70,994 votes. Congress candidate Dumar Lal Baitha garnered 1, 09,684 votes, and managed to achieve third position.
The successive election wins solidified Sukdeo Paswan’s position as a formidable leader within the Janta Dal party. In the 1996 general elections, Paswan enjoyed a third consecutive win, by defeating BJP candidate Ramji Das Rishidev with 48,278 votes. Congress candidate Hari Prasad Vaishyantri stood third among the candidates.
In the 1998 Lok Sabha elections, Ramj Das Rishidev became the first BJP candidate to win from the Araria seat, defeating RJD candidate Gita Devi with a margin of 33,937 votes. Ramji Rishidev secured 3,09,233 votes, while Gita Devi received 2,75,296 votes. Sukdeo Paswan who was undefeatable from the last three polls, attained third position in the vote counts.
However, in the next general elections of 1999, Sukdeo Paswan emerged victorious on RJD ticket, secured 3,08,579 votes, and defeated BJP’s Pramanand Rishidev who received 3,06,410 votes, by a narrow margin of 2,169 votes.
In the 2004 general elections, Sukdeo Paswan succeeded in winning fifth times from Araria seat. Sukdeo Paswan who was contesting on the BJP ticket, received 2,16,677 votes, achieving victory by a margin of 27,744 votes over Samajwadi Party candidate Ramji Das Rishidev, who secured 1,88,933 votes.
Araria was a reserved seat for Scheduled Castes (SC) till 2004. It became a general seat in 2009 after the delimitation process. BJP candidate Pradeep Kumar Singh achieved victory by a margin of 22,502 votes, over Zakir Hussain Khan, who was fighting on Lok Jan Shakti Party (LJP) ticket, in the 2009 general elections.
In this election, Shakeel Ahmad Khan was also contesting as the Congress candidate and received 49,649 votes and stood third among the candidates. Khan is now floor leader in the Bihar assembly and incumbent MLA from Kadwa in Katihar district.
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During the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Md. Taslimuddin who was contesting on Rashtriya Janta Dal ticket, became the first Muslim MP of Araria, securing victory over BJP candidate Pradeep Kumar Singh, by a margin of 1,46,504 votes. In the polls, Md. Taslimuddin received 4,07,978 votes while Pradeep Kumar Singh got 2,61,474 votes.
Taslimuddin: A Muslim Face in Seemanchal
Mohammad Taslimuddin, former Union Minister of State for Home Affairs and prominent Seemanchal leader, was born on 4 January 1943, at Sisauna, a village in Jokihat block of Araria district. He started his political career with panchayat elections in 1964. During the periods of 1969-89, 1995-96, and, 2002-2004 he served 8 times as a member of Bihar legislative assembly from Araria, Jokihat, and Kishanganj assembly seats.
Before getting elected as a Member of Parliament from Purnea Lok Sabha seat in 1989, he served as parliamentary secretary for the government of Bihar, and vice president of Janta Party, during the periods of 1977-80 and 1985-89 respectively. In the general elections of 1996, 1998, and 2004, Taslimuddin represented Kishanganj Lok Sabha seat.
Taslimuddin reached the Lok Sabha for the fifth time by winning the Araria seat in the 2014 general elections. He served as a member of more than a dozen parliamentary committees in his entire political career. During the period from 2004-2009, he served as Union minister of state for Agriculture and Consumer Affairs, Food and Public distribution.
Before this, he became the Union Minister of State for Home Affairs in 1996. He died on 17 September 2017.
2018 Araria Bypolls
The death of Md. Taslimuddin necessitated polls on Araria seat. In the 2018 by-polls, Sarfaraz Alam, son of Taslimuddin, achieved a victory on the RJD ticket, defeating BJP candidate Pradeep Kumar Singh, by a margin of 61,788 votes.
However, the win didn’t last very long for Sarfaraz Alam. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Pradeep Kumar Singh emerged victorious on BJP ticket, as he defeated Sarfaraz Alam with a significant margin of 1,37,241 votes. Pradeep Kumar Singh received 6,18,434 votes, while Sarfaraz Alam secured 4,81,193 votes.
Incumbent MP of Araria Pradeep Kumar Singh
Pradeep Kumar Singh, an agriculturist and a businessperson by profession, was born on 9 December 1964 in Araria. He started his political career as a member of the legislative assembly (MLA), from the Araria assembly seat in 2005.
The February 2005 Bihar assembly elections did not yield a clear mandate for any party in the state. Consequently, fresh assembly elections were conducted in November 2005. Pradeep Kumar Singh got elected once again on Araria seat, in the fresh assembly elections.
He became a Member of Parliament from Araria for the first time in the year of 2009. During the period from 2009-2014, he served as a member of the committee on Health and Family Welfare, and during 2010-2013, member of the consultative committee for the Ministry of social justice and Empowerment, and an advisor for the Ministry of Rural Development for the same period.
Pradeep Kumar Singh’s winning streak continued in the 2019 general elections. Presently, he is serving as a member of the consultative committee for the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, and a standing committee on chemicals and fertilizers.
2024 Lok Sabha elections
Presently, BJP’s Pradeep Kumar Singh is the incumbent MP from the Araria seat. In the 2014 general elections and 2018 by-polls, the seat went to Rashtriya Janta Dal. Winning last time in 1984, Congress has been traditionally weak in Araria. There is a maximum prospect that the Araria seat could go to RJD of the INDIA alliance in the upcoming 2024 general elections. In this situation, there could be a tough battle between the BJP-led NDA and the opposition INDIA alliance.
Although, Pradeep Kumar Singh is the most prospective candidate for the NDA alliance, but there are many ticket contenders in RJD. After getting defeated by his younger brother Shahnawaz Alam, in the 2020 Bihar legislative assembly elections from Jokihat, getting an RJD ticket wouldn’t be easy for Sarfaraz Alam.
In the upcoming 2024 elections, from the Araria seat, RJD can field Shahnawaz Alam, the youngest son of Md. Taslimuddin, and the Bihar cabinet Minister for disaster management,
Presently, under the Araria Lok Sabha seat, BJP controls three assembly seats; Sikti, Forbesganj, and Narpatganj, while Congress, RJD, and JDU each control one assembly seat; Araria, Jokihat, and Raniganj respectively.
Congress’s Abidur Rahman (Araria), RJD’s Shahnawaz Alam (Jokihat), JDU’s Achmit Rishidev (Raniganj), BJP’s Vijay Kumar Mandal (Sikti), Vidyasagar Keshri (Forbesganj) and Jayaprakash Yadav (Narpatganj) are the current MLAs under Araria Lok Sabha seat.
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