Jhajha Assembly Election: JDU's Damodar Rawat eyes another win in three-way battle against RJD

Jhajha Assembly Constituency has witnessed keen political contests over the years, with the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Janata Dal United (JDU) and Jan Suraaj Party (JSP) being the major contenders. The key candidates for the Jhajha seat are RJD candidate Jai Prakash Narayan Yadav, JDU leader Damodar Rawat and Jan Suraaj Party's Nilendu Datt Mishra among others.  

The RJD has a pact with the Congress, Left parties and Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) in Bihar, while the Janata Dal United (JDU) is in alliance with the BJP, Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) and Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM). 

Jhajha Assembly Constituency  

The Jhajha Assembly constituency is one of the 243 constituencies in the Bihar Legislative Assembly. It is constituency number 242 of the Bihar Legislative Assembly. The constituency is a general seat not reserved for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs). Jhajha Assembly constituency is a part of the Jamui district.

Jhajha is a city and notified area in the Jamui district of Bihar, located in the southern part of the state near the Jharkhand border. It lies on the Howrah-Mughalsarai main railway line, roughly midway between Madhupur Junction and Kiul Junction.

According to the 2011 Indian census, Jhajha had 7,223 households and a total population of 40,646, including 21,406 males and 19,240 females. Children aged 0–6 years numbered 5,736, accounting for 14.11% of the population. The female sex ratio stood at 899, slightly below the Bihar state average of 918, while the child sex ratio was 954, higher than the state average of 935.

Jhajha’s overall literacy rate was 79.13%, significantly higher than the state average of 61.80%. Male literacy reached 87.37%, and female literacy was 69.87%. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes made up 13.65% and 0.98% of the population, respectively. Out of the total population, 13,785 individuals were engaged in work or business activities- 9,971 males and 3,814 females. Among these workers, 76.71% were involved in main work (such as employment or business), while 23.29% were engaged in marginal work.

Jhajha Constituency Demographic Profile

In 2020, the total number of voters in the Jhajha constituency was 3,16,049 voters, comprising 1,67,003 male voters, 1,49,044 female voters. There were 1,045 valid postal votes in the constituency. The number of service voters in Jhajha in 2020 was 358 consisting of 349 men and 9 women.

In 2015, the total number of voters in the Jhajha constituency was 3,03,537. Out of this, 1,62,406 voters were male, and 1,41,130 were female and one belonged to a third gender. There were 324 valid postal votes in the constituency. The number of service voters in Jhajha in 2015 was 48, consisting of 31 men and 17 women.

What happened in the 2020 and 2015 Assembly Elections?

In the 2020 Bihar Assembly Elections, Janata Dal United (JDU) candidate Damodar Rawat won the Jhajha seat with a margin of 1,679 votes (0.89%). He polled 76,972 votes with a vote share of 39.55%. He defeated Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) candidate Rajendra Prasad, who got 75,293 votes (38.69%). Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) candidate Binod Yadav stood third with 13,479 votes (6.93%).

In the 2015 Bihar Assembly Elections, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Rabindra Yadav won the Jhajha seat with a margin of 22,086 votes (13.86%). He polled 65,537 votes with a vote share of 40.04%. Janata Dal United's (JDU) Damodar Rawat got 43,451 votes (26.55%) and was the runner-up. Independent candidate Binod Yadav stood third with 20,745 votes (12.67%).