Pataliputra Lok Sabha constituency is one of the high-profile seats in Bihar. Pataliputra constituency is one of two seats - Pataliputra and Patna Sahib in the capital city - Patna. Pataliputra constituency consists of six assembly seats - Danapur, Maner, Phulwari, Masaurhi, Paliganj and Bikram. Out of six, four belonged to Lalu Prasad Yadav’s Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and three to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Pataliputra is a tough poll battleground. It always sees a close fight between the NDA (JD-U and BJP) and RJD. There is only a difference of 3-5 per cent votes between the two rivals in the last three Lok Sabha elections.
Candidates of Pataliputra Lok Sabha elections 2024
Lalu Prasad Yadav once again backed his daughter Misa Bharti who contested the Lok Sabha elections unsuccessfully twice in 2014 and 2009 against Bharatiya Janata Party leader Ram Kripal Yadav. Yadav defeated her in both Lok Sabha elections 2014 and 2019. She is attempting the third time to defeat Yadav. Yadav is a former RJD leader, who joined the saffron party in 2014 ahead of the Lok Sabha election after being denied a ticket by Lalu Prasad Yadav. He succeeded in defeating Lalu’s daughter but the margin was thin. In both Lok Sabha elections, Bharti gained a good share of votes but fell little short of overcoming Yadav.
The political equation in the constituency has not much changed in a decade yet we can see a tough fight again. Bharti eyeing swing voters who are decisive in the constituency.
In the General Elections 2014, Yadav, Yadav won the seat with 3,83,262 votes after switching sides to the BJP. He defeated Bharti, who managed to get 3,42,940 votes. Again in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Yadav registered a victory with 5,09,557 votes, defeating Lalu’s daughter, who garnered 4,70,236 votes.
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