The Indian National Congress began its Bihar section of the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra from Kishanganj on 28 January 2024. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi criticised chief minister Nitish Kumar for rejoining the NDA and said that the Mahagathbandhan did not need him and that it would keep fighting for social justice.[5] On 15 February, Gandhi resumed his yatra from Bihar's Aurangabad, where he promised a financial survey to assess the ground reality if his alliance comes to power.[6] The yatra resumed from Sasaram the next day, where Rashtriya Janata Dal chairperson and former state deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav joined the yatra, touring the state with Gandhi in a jeep.[7]
The Rashtriya Janata Dal began its campaign with its Jan Vishwas Yatra ("People's Trust Yatra") on 20 February 2024. RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav launched the yatra from Muzaffarpur in Bihar. The yatra will last till 1 March 2024 and will have covered 33 districts.[8][9] In Siwan on 23 February, Yadav termed the BJP "a dustbin" which takes in other parties that have become "garbage".[10][11] The Rashtriya Janata Dal also worked to expand its social base while holding its core Muslim-Yadav support base firmly. The majority of the candidates of Rashtriya Janata Dal on all 23 seats it contested were from Other Backward Class and Extremely Backward Castes. The party fielded 8 Yadav candidates, while the Koeri and Kurmis also got a fair share. It fielded three Koeris, Alok Kumar Mehta from Ujiarpur, Shravan Kushwaha from Nawada and Abhay Kushwaha from Aurangabad constituency. RJD also fielded six women candidates– Ritu Jaiswal (Sheohar), Anita Devi Mahto (Munger), Bima Bharati (Purnea), Archana Ravidas (Jamui), Misa Bharti (Pataliputra) and Rohini Acharya from Saran.[12]
RJD also faced opposition from its own party members in constituencies like Nawada, where RJD's sitting legislators Vibha Devi and Prakash Veer were spotted campaigning for independent candidate Vinod Yadav, brother of former RJD legislator, Rajballabh Yadav instead of party's declared candidate Shravan Kushwaha.[13] In overall ticket distribution of the NDA and INDIA bloc, 16 Yadav candidates were made candidates out of 80 candidates from both sides. The Koeris with 11 candidates were the second largest caste.[14]
Events and outcomes
During the election, the Karakat Lok Sabha constituency in the Rohtas district of Bihar drew nationwide attention, when Bhojpuri singer and actor Pawan Singh declared that he will contest the Lok Sabha election from there. Earlier, Singh was made a candidate of Bharatiya Janata Party from Asansol Lok Sabha constituency against Shatrughan Sinha, but Singh refused to contest from there. Unable to get the candidature of National Democratic Alliance from Arrah Lok Sabha constituency, he made the contest in the Karakat triangular. It was speculated that he will cut the major chunk of NDA votes of Rajput caste, the community to which he belonged. In the aftermath of voting process, Singh was able to get over two lakh votes, pushing NDA candidate Upendra Kushwaha to the third spot. He was, however, defeated by Raja Ram Singh Kushwaha of Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation by a margin of over one lakh votes. The division in votes of NDA due to Singh led to the victory of CPIML candidate.[15]
However, the defeat of former union minister Upendra Kushwaha, who was considered as the tallest leader of the Koeri caste in Bihar, sent shockwaves across the state, specially in the Magadh and Shahabad belt. There witnessed a palpable anger amongst the member of Koeri caste on Pawan Singh contesting from the constituency considered as the stronghold of the community against Upendra Kushwaha. As a consequence, the Koeris across the Shahabad voted again the Rajput candidates and the Bharatiya Janata Party as the Rashtriya Janata Dal and its alliance partners like CPIML were successful in conveying the message that Pawan Singh was sent by Bharatiya Janata Party to spoil the votes of Upendra Kushwaha. This led to defeat of veteran Rajput leaders R. K. Singh and Sushil Kumar Singh in the nearby Arrah and Aurangabad constituency. Besides this, NDA also lost Buxar and Sasaram leading to wiping out of BJP from the whole Shahabad region.[16][17]
Earlier, BJP had raised Samrat Chaudhary to the post of party's Bihar unit president in a bid to bring Kushwahas within the fold of BJP. However, discontent was seen amongst the Kushwahas on the ground level as Chaudary was not able to field any Kushwaha candidate on the symbol of BJP in 2024 polls. Although, only two out of seven Kushwaha candidates were able to win from the INDIA alliance, the margin of victory of the NDA candidates was drastically reduced on evey seat, where there was a Kushwaha candidate from the side of INDIA bloc. This showed major chunk of Kushwaha voters supporting and voting for INDIA as against NDA.[18]
^"Lok Sabha Election 2024: जदयू से अलग होने के बाद बिहार में लोकसभा सीट जीतना भाजपा के लिए कितना कठिन जानें". 19 December 2022.
^"Opposition will unify for 2024 elections: Bihar CM Nitish Kumar". The Statesman. 3 September 2022.
^"नीतीश कुमार 'मिशन 24' की तैयारियों में जुटे, जेडीयू ऑफिस में करेंगे बड़ी बैठक".
^"Lok Sabha election 2024: Which state, UT will vote in how many phases? Check details". Hindustan Times. 17 March 2024. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
^Tewary, Amarnath (30 January 2024). "Nitish Kumar caved under pressure; don't need his support: Rahul Gandhi". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 12 February 2024.
^"Rahul Gandhi tours Bihar in jeep during yatra, Tejashwi Yadav in driver's seat". India Today. 16 February 2024. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
^"Bihar: Tejashwi Yadav to kickstart Jan Vishwas Yatra tomorrow". The Economic Times. 19 February 2024. ISSN 0013-0389. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
^Raj, Dev. "Tejashwi Yadav begins Jan Vishwas Yatra, slams Nitish Kumar in kickoff to Lok Sabha campaign". The Telegraph (India). Retrieved 25 February 2024.
^Bhelari, Amit (23 February 2024). "Impressive turnout at Tejashwi's Jan Vishwas Yatra in Bihar". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
^Raj, Dev (23 February 2023). "Tejashwi Yadav slams BJP for giving swords in hands of people, becoming 'dustbin'". The Telegraph (India). Retrieved 25 February 2024.
^"OBCs form bulk of RJD's Bihar list; Yadavs, EBCs follow". Indian express. 10 April 2024. Retrieved 10 April 2024.
^Bhelari, Amit (9 April 2024). "In an unusual twist, RJD MLAs campaign in support of the Independent candidate in Bihar's Nawada". The Hindu. Retrieved 11 April 2024.
^"बिहार लोकसभा चुनाव: हर पांचवा उम्मीदवार यादव, फिर भी दबदबा किसी और का ही". jansatta. 29 April 2024. Retrieved 5 May 2024.
^Bhelari, Amit. "Neta vs abhineta: the Karakat battle pits a veteran politician against a Bhojpuri actor". The Hindu. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
^Anshuman, Kumar. "Tejaswi Yadav cashes in on Kushwaha factor cuts BJP numbers". The Economic Times. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
^"Door-to-Door Campaigning, Local Caste Equations Fuel CPI (ML) Liberation's Victory in Bihar". The Wire. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
^"बिहार में फेल रहा बीजेपी का कुशवाहा प्रयोग:सम्राट चौधरी भाजपा नेता जरूर बने, लेकिन जाति की राजनीति में मात खा गए". Dainik Bhaskar. Retrieved 13 June 2024.
^ABP News Bureau, ed. (16 April 2024). "ABP-CVoter Opinion Poll: BJP To Continue Its Dominance In Lok Sabha Polls In Bihar, But There's A Catch". ABP News. Retrieved 17 April 2024.
^ abABP News Bureau (15 March 2024). "C-Voter Survey: NDA leads with 50% vote share in Bihar over 40 seats | Elections 2024 Opinion Poll". news.abplive.com. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
^ abDe, Abhishek (8 February 2024). "Bihar sides with NDA, shows Mood of the Nation 2024 survey". India Today. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
^Jadhav, Abhijit, ed. (24 December 2023). "Lok Sabha Survey : आज लोकसभेच्या निवडणुका झाल्या तर इंडिया की NDA, कोण बाजी मारणार? सी-व्होटरच्या ओपिनियन पोलवरून समोर आली मोठी बातमी". ABP News (in Marathi). Retrieved 3 April 2024.
^"ETG Survey: अगर आज हुए लोकसभा चुनाव तो किसकी बनेगी सरकार? देखें हर राज्य का गुणा-गणित". Times Now (in Hindi). 18 December 2023. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
^Mallick, Ashesh, ed. (7 October 2023). "India TV-CNX Opinion Poll: BJP-led NDA surges ahead of INDIA in Bihar in close contest". India TV. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
^"Who Is Likely To Win If Lok Sabha Polls Are Held Today? ETG Survey Reveals | The Newshour Debate". Youtube. Times Now. 3 October 2023. Retrieved 3 April 2024.
^"'Phir Ek Baar, Modi Sarkar', Predicts Times Now ETG Survey if Election Held Today". Times Now. 16 August 2023.
^"PM Modi likely to win third term in 2024 despite INDIA alliance: Mood of the Nation poll". Business Today. 26 August 2023. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
^ABP News Bureau, ed. (16 April 2024). "ABP-CVoter Opinion Poll: BJP To Continue Its Dominance In Lok Sabha Polls In Bihar, But There's A Catch". ABP News. Retrieved 17 April 2024.
^Yadav, Yogendra; Sardesai, Shreyas (31 August 2023). "Here are two things INDIA alliance must do based on national surveys' results". The Print. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
^"Bihar Lok Sabha election dates 2024: Polling to be held in 7 phases; check schedule, constituency-wise details". Moneycontrol. 16 March 2024. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
^"Voter turnout of 66.14% in phase 1 and 66.71% in phase 2 recorded in General Elections 2024". pib.gov.in. Archived from the original on 2 May 2024. Retrieved 2 May 2024.