Bhagalpur showdown: Congress defends stronghold against BJP challenge in Bihar Assembly Polls

Bhagalpur (Bihar) [India], November 9 : All eyes are on the Bhagalpur Assembly constituency as the district gears up for polling in the second phase of the 2025 Bihar Assembly elections on November 11.
Bhagalpur, one of the most closely watched constituencies in the state, will witness a direct contest between the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), with Ajeet Sharma representing the Congress and Rohit Pandey contesting on a BJP ticket.
Adding another layer to the electoral dynamics, Abhay Kant Jha from the Jan Suraaj Party, led by Prashant Kishor, is also in the fray, potentially influencing the traditionally bipolar contest.
Bhagalpur, a general category seat, has historically seen intense contests between the Congress and the BJP.
In the 2020 Assembly elections, Ajeet Sharma retained the seat by securing 65,502 votes (40.52%), narrowly defeating Rohit Pandey, who received 64,389 votes (39.83%), winning by a margin of just 1,113 votes.
In 2015, Sharma also emerged victorious with 70,514 votes (46.24%), defeating his BJP rival, Arjit Shashwat Choubey, who polled 59,856 votes (39.25%), by a margin of 10,658 votes.
The second phase of polling in Bhagalpur district will also cover six other constituencies--Bihpur, Gopalpur, Pirpainti (SC), Kahalgaon, Sultanganj, and Nathnagar--setting the stage for a high-stakes contest between the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and the Mahagathbandhan.
Senior BJP leader Ashwini Kumar Choubey held the Bhagalpur seat for five consecutive terms from 1995 to 2014 before moving to national politics as an MP and Union minister. Following his exit, Congress' Ajeet Sharma won the 2014 bypoll and retained the seat in 2015 and 2020.
The BJP now aims to reclaim the seat. In 2020, Rohit Pandey lost by a narrow margin of just 1,113 votes. Party leaders believe the result could have gone in their favour had the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), which contested separately, not divided votes by fielding its own candidate, who secured over 20,000 votes. With the LJP now back in the NDA fold, the BJP is confident of a better outcome. The alliance also performed strongly in the Bhagalpur Assembly segment during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, further boosting party morale.
Bhagalpur's electoral history reflects a mix of entrenched incumbents and emerging challengers, with the BJP-JD(U) alliance holding a narrow edge in recent elections but facing strong resistance from the RJD-Congress bloc ahead of the 2025 contest. The constituency has long been considered a stronghold of the Congress party.
Bhagalpur is an urban constituency with a high literacy rate compared to other districts. Politically, the Assembly seat, one of six under the Bhagalpur Lok Sabha constituency, has been dominated by the Congress and the BJP since independence. No other party has won the seat in the last 73 years.
Since 1951, only six leaders have represented Bhagalpur in the Bihar Assembly. Congress and BJP (and its earlier form, Bharatiya Jana Sangh) have each won nine times out of the 18 Assembly elections held so far.
Bhagalpur, Bihar's third-largest city, is famously known as the "Silk City of India." The city is renowned for its Bhagalpuri or Tussar silk, celebrated for its smooth texture and widely used in the creation of saris, shawls, and kurtis that are in high demand across India.
The 2025 Bihar Assembly elections are shaping up as a contest between the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and the Mahagathbandhan, with Bhagalpur emerging as a key constituency.
Residents have emphasised the need for enhanced employment opportunities in the region to address migration and improve local livelihoods. The constituency's demographics, including caste composition, are expected to play a significant role in shaping election outcomes.
In the first phase of polling, held on November 6 across 121 constituencies, voter turnout was recorded at 65.08 per cent. The second phase, covering the remaining 122 seats, is scheduled for November 11.
The results of the Bihar Assembly elections are scheduled to be announced on November 14.