Begusarai LS polls: BJP's Giriraj Singh eyes second term in Bhumihar-dominated district, is pitted against CPI's Abdhesh Kumar Roy

Begusarai (Bihar) [India], May 12 (ANI): Begusarai, one of the 40 Lok Sabha constituencies in Bihar which are set to go for polls on Monday, is considered to be a stronghold of the Bhumihar community.
The dominance of Bhumihars in Begusarai is evident from the fact that a Bhumihar has been elected as MP nine times except in 2009 when JD(U)'s Monazir Hassan emerged victorious.
Out of the total voters in Begusarai, about 19 per cent are upper-caste Bhumihars, followed by Muslims, who make up 15 per cent of the voters. Yadavs make up 12 per cent of the population and there are 7 per cent Kurmi voters.
The 2024 candidates list for the Begusarai Lok Sabha constituency includes Abdhesh Kumar Roy of the Communist Party of India (CPI) and Giriraj Singh of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Main parties contesting in Bihar include the NDA alliance, with BJP and JD(U) re-uniting and the Mahagathbandhan alliance which includes RJD and Congress among others.
Earlier, Giriraj Singh expressed confidence in winning all 40 seats in Bihar.
Speaking to reporters, the Minister said, "I am 200% confident that we will win 40 seats in Bihar. 200%. This tukde tukde, appeasement and Mughal mindset gang can never do the welfare of Bihar and the country. All 40/40 seats of the state will be in the name of PM Modi."
Begusarai is known for its industries, including the Indian Oil Refinery, Hindustan Fertilizer Limited, and Thermal Power Station, all located in Barauni. The district also has hundreds of small industrial units in the private sector.
Begusarai district of Bihar has a total population of 2,970,541 as per the Census 2011. Out of these 1,567,660 are males while 1,402,881 are females. In 2011 a total 589,667 families were residing in Begusarai district. The Average Sex Ratio in the Begusarai district is 895.
The total literacy rate of Begusarai district is 63.87 per cent.
In the 2019 polls, the BJP's Giriraj Singh won with 692,193 votes. CPI's Kanhaiya Kumar received 269,976 votes. RJDs Tanveer Hassan received 198,233 votes.
In the 2014 polls, BJP's Bhola Singh won the Begusarai seat for the first time. He defeated RJD's Tanveer Hassan by a margin of 5% votes. Bhola Singh won with 428,227 votes, while RJD's Tanveer Hassan received 369,892 votes.
Notably, polling in Bihar, which sends 40 members to the Lok Sabha, is being held across all seven phases. The counting of votes for all phases is scheduled for June 4.
The voting on five seats in Bihar--Jhanjharpur, Supaul, Araria, Madhepura, and Khagaria was conducted in the third phase of the Lok Sabha election on May 7. (ANI)