The region lies close to the Kosi River, with fertile soil supporting paddy, wheat, and banana cultivation. Its economy is agrarian but also leans heavily on migrant remittances. Seasonal migration, particularly to Delhi and Mumbai, is a recurring theme driven by low landholding patterns and limited employment opportunities. While infrastructure is modest, recent years have seen improved road connectivity and mobile access, especially around Barari bazaar and Kursela Junction.
Barari is about 12 km southeast of Katihar town and is well-connected by road to NH-31 and the Katihar Junction railway station. Manihari, a riverine town known for its ferry link to Sahebganj in Jharkhand, lies around 25 km to the south. Naugachhia, a key junction on the Delhi–Guwahati rail route, is located approximately 35 km to the west, while Colgong, a small town in Bhagalpur district, is about 40 km southwest. Purnia, a major urban centre in northeastern Bihar, is situated roughly 50 km to the northwest. Patna, the state capital, is located around 300 km southwest of Barari.
Established in 1957, Barari has been to the polls 16 times. The Congress party initially dominated, winning five of the first seven elections until its last victory in 1980. Since then, the electorate has defied predictability, voting for a range of parties without consistent allegiance. BJP and RJD have won twice each, while CPI, Janata Party, Lok Dal, Janata Dal, NCP, JD(U), and even an Independent candidate have secured single-term victories.
Barari voters have shown a noticeable comfort with political turncoats. Muhammad Sakoor, who disrupted the Congress party’s dominance in 1969 as a CPI nominee, returned in 1972 on a Congress ticket and won again in 2005 representing the NCP. Mansoor Alam, another prominent figure, won three times, first in 1985 on a Lok Dal ticket, then in 1995 for Janata Dal, and finally in 2000 on an RJD symbol.
Barari had 271,982 registered voters during the 2020 Assembly elections, which rose to 282,738 by the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. The Election Commission reported a migration of 2,707 voters between the two polls. Of the 2020 electorate, Scheduled Castes constituted approximately 23,796 voters (8.75 percent), Scheduled Tribes accounted for around 9,821 voters (3.61 percent), while Muslim voters made up nearly 81,108 (29.80 percent) of the voter base. Despite the sizeable Muslim presence, Barari has elected Hindu MLAs in 10 out of 16 elections, with Muhammad Sakoor and Mansoor Alam being the only Muslim leaders to have represented the seat, winning six times between them.
A similar pattern has been observed in Lok Sabha elections. In 2024, Congress party’s Tariq Anwar, who won the Katihar parliamentary seat, trailed JD(U)’s Dulal Chandra Goswami by 8,529 votes in the Barari segment, continuing the trend from 2009 and 2019 where Hindu candidates led.
In the 2020 Assembly elections, JD(U)’s Bijay Singh defeated RJD’s Neeraj Kumar by a margin of 10,438 votes.
Barari’s voter turnout consistently ranks higher than the state average. Even in 2020, which saw its lowest recent participation, the turnout stood at 67.24 percent, well above Bihar’s overall turnout of 58.70 percent.
With JD(U)’s victory in 2020 and its lead in the 2024 parliamentary polls, the party which is part of the BJP-led NDA, enjoys an upper hand, but just about that, without the guarantee of another victory with the RJD-led opposition alliance breathing down its neck.
(Ajay Jha)
