Several rivers flow through Khagaria, making its terrain full of alluvial plains and swampy lands. The rivers Ganga, Koshi, Gandak, Bagmati and Kamla shape Khagaria’s geography. The northern part is fertile while the southern part has rice tracts and forests. A large part of the district is prone to annual floods. While agriculture is the backbone of Khagaria’s economy, a mega food park, established in 2015, came as a boon for the local economy. It benefits an estimated 30,000 farmers and has generated about 6,000 jobs.
Historically, Khagaria was part of the ancient Anga Kingdom. However, it does not have any site associated with history. Since it has been prone to annual floods during the rainy season when all five rivers are in spate, it is believed that historical sites must have been washed away in the floods.
The division headquarters Munger is 50 km away, while Begusarai (30 km) and Bhagalpur (80 km) are other nearby towns. The state capital Patna is 160 km from Khagaria.
The Khagaria Assembly constituency consists of the Khagaria municipality, Mansi community development block along with 18 Gram Panchayats of the Khagaria community development block. It is one of the six Assembly segments of the Khagaria Lok Sabha seat.
Since its inception in 1951, Khagaria has seen 17 Assembly elections. The Congress party has won this seat five times and the Janata Dal (United) on three occasions. The Samyukta Socialist Party, Independents and the BJP (including the 1972 victory of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh) won this seat twice each. The Janata Party, CPI and LJP have also won this seat once each.
Khagaria is another seat where the opposition Mahagathbandhan won in 2020 due to the rift between the JD(U) and the LJP. The LJP fielded its candidate to ensure the JD(U)’s defeat and succeeded in its mission. The Congress party’s nominee Chhatrapati Yadav defeated the JD(U)’s sitting MLA Poonam Devi Yadav by a narrow margin of 3,000 votes, as the LJP’s Renu Kumari polled 20,719 votes. The two parties patched up later, and its impact was visible instantly in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections as the LJP(RV) nominee led in the Khagaria Assembly segment by 19,787 votes.
Khagaria constituency had 260,064 registered voters in the 2020 Assembly elections, while in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, it increased marginally to 267,640. Scheduled Caste voters formed 13.56 percent of Khagaria’s voters while Muslims accounted for 10.5 percent. The constituency had 86.47 percent rural and 13.54 percent urban voters. It has been witnessing a consistent turnout ranging between 58 and 60 percent in the last three elections.
Though it is presently an opposition-held seat, the ruling NDA may have a slight upper hand as Khagaria gets ready for the 2025 elections.
(Ajay Jha)
