Amour is situated on the border of Purnia district in Bihar and Uttar Dinajpur district in West Bengal, with Karandighi block of West Bengal lying to its east. Its largely flat and fertile terrain is ideal for farming, with irrigation primarily dependent on groundwater sources and seasonal rainfall. Paddy, wheat, and maize are the dominant crops, while jute cultivation plays a role in the local economy. Small-scale industries, including rice mills and jute processing units, also contribute to employment. The constituency is well connected by road, with Purnia, the district headquarters, located approximately 32 km away. Kishanganj lies around 50 km to the northeast, while Katihar is about 60 km to the south. The state capital Patna is approximately 290 km away.
Amour has witnessed 18 elections since its formation. Notably, only one non-Muslim candidate, Chandrashekhar Jha of Janata Party, ever won this seat in 1977. The Congress party has won on eight occasions, while Independent candidates have secured victories four times. Praja Socialist Party won twice, and Janata Party, Samajwadi Party, BJP, and AIMIM won once each. In 2020, Akhtarul Iman of AIMIM won the seat, defeating JD(U)’s Saba Zafar by a margin of 52,515 votes. Congress candidate Abdul Jalil Mastan finished third. The contest marked AIMIM’s first victory in Amour, shifting the political balance in the constituency. Akhtarul Iman was previously with the RJD and had won the Kishanganj seat twice and the Kochadhaman constituency once for RJD. He is the incumbent state president of the AIMIM.
The voter base in Amour is entirely rural, with no urban voters recorded in the 2011 Census. Scheduled Caste voters made up approximately 4.1 percent (12,871) of Amour’s 313,928 registered voters in the 2020 elections, while Muslim voters constituted around 69.8 percent (219,122). The number of registered voters increased to 324,576 in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. Election Commission data indicates that 2,422 registered voters in 2020 had since relocated outside the constituency. Migration among youth in search of employment remains a concern, particularly due to limited industrial opportunities in the region. With a 58.81 percent turnout in 2020, Amour recorded its lowest voter participation in recent years.
Given past voting patterns and the results of the 2024 parliamentary elections, where Congress led in the Amour Assembly segment by 21,737 votes, the ruling NDA faces an uphill battle in attempting to reclaim the constituency from AIMIM and Congress in the upcoming Bihar elections.
(Ajay Jha)
