The Janata Dal (United) won the inaugural election in 2010 with Razia Khatoon as its candidate, defeating RJD’s Manoj Kumar Yadav by a margin of 15,402 votes. In 2015, the JD(U) parted ways with the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance and contested the election in alliance with the RJD. The BJP fielded Sachindra Prasad Singh, who defeated Razia Khatoon by a margin of 11,488 votes. By the time the 2020 elections arrived, JD(U) was back in the NDA fold, and BJP contested the seat. However, RJD’s Manoj Kumar Yadav turned the tables and defeated Sachindra Prasad Singh by a narrow margin of 1,193 votes.
Despite the setback in 2020, the NDA regrouped and reasserted its dominance in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. BJP led in the Kalyanpur Assembly segment by 14,014 votes, a symbolic recovery that suggested the 2020 defeat was more of a hiccup than a trend. This lead, however, was smaller than its 2019 margin of 36,261 votes and the 25,775 votes it led by in 2014. In 2009, the BJP’s lead in the segment was 11,955 votes.
Kalyanpur had 256,790 registered voters in the 2020 Assembly elections, including 41,318 Scheduled Caste voters (16.09 percent) and 36,977 Muslim voters (14.40 percent). It is a purely rural constituency with no urban voters and recorded a turnout of 62.54 percent in 2020. The number of registered voters increased marginally to 263,186 in the 2024 parliamentary polls, indicating a stable demographic with limited migration.
Historically, the region falls within the broader Champaran belt, which played a central role in India’s freedom movement, particularly during Mahatma Gandhi’s indigo Satyagraha in 1917. While Kalyanpur itself may not have been a focal point, the surrounding areas carry the legacy of resistance and reform.
Geographically, the terrain is flat and fertile, typical of north Bihar. The Gandak River flows in the west of the constituency, supporting agriculture but also posing flood risks during the monsoon. Paddy, wheat, and pulses are the main crops grown here, and farming remains the primary occupation. However, like much of rural Bihar, the region suffers from inadequate irrigation and poor infrastructure. Employment opportunities are scarce, leading to seasonal and long-term migration to cities such as Delhi, Surat, and Kolkata. There are no significant industries in the area, and public services like healthcare and education are underdeveloped.
Kalyanpur is well-connected by road to Motihari, the district headquarters, which lies about 25 km to the northeast. Raxaul, the border town with Nepal, is approximately 60 km away and serves as a key commercial hub. Muzaffarpur, a major urban centre in north Bihar, is around 80 km to the southwest. Patna, the state capital, is situated nearly 160 km from Kalyanpur.
While the BJP’s performance in the Kalyanpur segment during parliamentary elections has been consistently impressive, it cannot be taken as a guarantee of victory in the 2025 Assembly polls. Bihar has often demonstrated that voters apply different yardsticks when choosing their representatives for the Assembly and Parliament. Moreover, the narrow defeat of the BJP in 2020 and the fact that no sitting MLA has managed to retain the seat so far could be a cause for concern for the RJD-led opposition alliance. The battle for Kalyanpur remains open and unpredictable.
(Ajay Jha)
