Harlakhi block, part of Bihar’s Madhubani district, is considered one of the largest villages in the region due to its thriving agriculture-based economy. Located on the border of Madhubani and Sitamarhi districts, its history is deeply connected to Mithila’s rich cultural heritage. The rivers Bagmati and Kamala flow nearby, shaping its flat terrain, which is ideal for farming. Agriculture is the primary occupation of the locals, while Jainagar, situated near the Nepal border, serves as the main economic hub.
Jainagar is 22 km from Harlakhi, while the district headquarters, Madhubani, is 37 km to the south. Sitamarhi is around 30 km west, Jhanjharpur is 40 km southeast, and the divisional headquarters, Darbhanga, is 65 km south of Harlakhi.
Harlakhi falls within the historic Mithila kingdom, once ruled by the Videha dynasty. Raja Janak, the father of Sita, ruled this region. His capital, Janakpur, now in Nepal, is about 72 km from Jainagar and is accessible by road and train.
Paddy, wheat, maize, and pulses are the main crops grown in Harlakhi. Recently, some farmers have also started banana plantations. Cattle farming, dairy production, and poultry farming contribute significantly to the local economy.
The Harlakhi Assembly constituency was established in 1951 and is one of the six segments of the Madhubani Lok Sabha seat. It includes the Harlakhi and Madhwapur community development blocks, along with seven gram panchayats from the Benipatti block. Harlakhi is a purely rural constituency with no urban voters.
Harlakhi has elected its representatives to the Bihar Legislative Assembly 17 times. Of these, the Congress party and the Communist Party of India have each won six times. The Janata Dal (United) and the Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP) have won twice each, while the Rashtriya Janata Dal has won once.
Sudhanshu Shekhar of the JD(U) is the current Harlakhi MLA. He won the seat for the second consecutive time in 2020, defeating CPI nominee Ram Naresh Pandey by 17,593 votes in a multi-cornered contest. Earlier, he had won the seat in a 2016 by-election, which was necessitated after his father, Basant Kumar Kushwaha, who had won on an RLSP ticket in 2015, died. Sudhanshu Shekhar began his political career with the RLSP but switched to the JD(U) when the RLSP left NDA and joined the RJD-led Mahagathbandhan, and the JD(U) left the Mahagathbandhan to join the BJP-led NDA.
The NDA has maintained its dominance in this region, as seen in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections when BJP’s Madhubani Lok Sabha candidate, Ashok Kumar Yadav, led in the Harlakhi Assembly segment by a massive margin of 40,931 votes.
In the 2020 Assembly elections, Harlakhi had 290,847 registered voters. Scheduled Castes accounted for 36,676 (12.61 percent), and Muslims made up 41,300 (14.20 percent) of the electorate. The number of voters increased slightly to 295,249 in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. The only concern in Harlakhi is its consistently low voter turnout, which has remained between 56 and 58 percent.
(Ajay Jha)
