Yet, this did not stop Goh from carving out a promising future. Though industrialisation has largely bypassed the region, the fertile land, nourished by the Sone River and its tributaries, has sustained the local economy. Rice, wheat, and pulses are the primary crops. Beyond farming, the people here are engaged in bamboo crafts and pottery.
According to the 2011 census, Goh block had a population of 234,400, with a density of 768 inhabitants per square kilometre. There were around 34,717 houses in the block, with a sex ratio of 922 females per 1,000 males.
The literacy rate in Goh was low at 53.66 per cent, with 63.20 per cent of males and 43.32 per cent of females listed as literate. The block comprises 158 villages spread over 305 square kilometres. Of these, 113 villages had fewer than 2,000 inhabitants.
The Goh Assembly constituency was established in 1951 and is one of the six Assembly segments under the Karakat Lok Sabha seat. In the 16 Assembly elections held here so far, the Congress, CPI, and JD(U), including its earlier avatar the Samata Party, have won the seat four times each. The Socialist Party, Samyukt Socialist Party, BJP, and RJD have won it once each.
The RJD made its presence felt in Goh by winning the seat for the first time in 2020 with a significant margin. The sitting BJP MLA, Manoj Kumar Sharma, lost to RJD’s Bhim Kumar Singh by 35,618 votes. In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, RLM founder Upendra Kushwaha contested the Karakat seat on behalf of the NDA but finished third, with CPI(ML)(L) candidate Raja Ram Singh Kushwaha emerging victorious. Upendra Kushwaha’s prospects were damaged by popular Bhojpuri actor-cum-singer Pawan Singh, who left the BJP and contested as an Independent, securing the second position.
Theoretically, the NDA could have won the seat if the votes of the official and rebel candidates were combined. The split in votes also worked in Raja Ram Singh Kushwaha’s favour in the Goh Assembly segment, where he led over both Upendra Kushwaha and Pawan Singh. The BJP now faces the challenge of keeping the NDA united and ensuring all allies campaign for the official candidate. If they succeed, the NDA could reclaim the Goh seat from the RJD.
Though a general seat, Scheduled Castes form a substantial 20.72 per cent of Goh’s electorate, while Muslims account for around 8.4 per cent. In the 2020 Assembly elections, Goh had 308,689 registered voters, with a turnout of 59.92 per cent. By the 2024 parliamentary elections, the number of voters had increased to 317,251.
(Ajay Jha)
