Gaya (Incumbent: Vijay Kumar-JD(U))
HAMS's Jitan Ram Manjhi is leading by 1,01,812 votes whereas Kumar Sarvjeet of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) is trailing. Gaya Parliamentary constituency holds great importance in Bihar’s political landscape. In the 2024 election, the BJP left the Gaya seat for its ally, the Hindustani Awam Morcha-Secular (HAMS).
The seat sees a contest between HAMS patron and former Bihar chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi (who has contested elections from Gaya thrice, facing defeat each time) and former minister and RJD candidate Kumar Sarvjeet. In the last Lok Sabha election, JD(U) Vijay Kumar candidate had defeated Manjhi by a margin of more than 1.52 lakh votes. Manjhi's HAM was part of the grand alliance in the last election.
The last time Congress won the Gaya seat was in 1984 and the RJD in 2004. The BJP clinched victory in 2009 and 2014, and the Janata Dal (United) in 2019. However, at least since 1999, a member of the Manjhi community has represented the seat.
2024 polls: The total number of registered voters in this constituency in 2024 polls was 1816815, and the seat saw a voting turnout of 52.76% (958623 votes polled), according to the Election Commission’s data released on May 25, 2024. The seat went to polls in phase 1 on April 19, 2024.
In the 2019 LS Polls, Vijay Kumar of JD(U) won from Gaya polling 467,007 votes comprising 48.79% of the total number of votes polled. Kumar defeated HAMS candidate (NDA ally) Jitan Ram Manjhi by a margin of 152,426 votes. In 2014, Hari Manjhi of BJP had won from this seat, getting 326,230 votes (40.31%) and defeating Ramji Manjhi of RJD by a margin of 115,504 votes.
