Purnia (Incumbent: Santosh Kumar (JD(U))
Bima Bharti of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav are trailing whereas JDU's Santosh Kushwaha is leading by 8,993 votes.
Purnia, in addition to Araria, Katihar and Kishanganj Lok Sabha seats, is part of the crucial Seemanchal region of Bihar, and thus becomes a crucial seat in the political landscape of the state. The seat is set to witness a triangular contest between JDU (which is part of the NDA) candidate Santosh Kushwaha, Bima Bharti of RJD, which is part of the INDIA bloc and independent candidate Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav, who decided to fight alone after Congress denied him a ticket.
This is the first time when Bharti, who left JDU for RJD, is contesting in the parliamentary elections. She is wife of muscleman Awadhesh Mandal and has been a five-time MLA from the Rupauli assembly seat in Purnea. She has also served as minister of sugarcane industries in the Nitish government earlier.
2024 polls: The total number of registered voters in Purnia constituency in 2024 polls was 1893698, and the seat saw a voting turnout of 63.08% (1194484 votes polled), according to the Election Commission’s data released on May 25, 2024. The seat went to polls in phase 2 on April 26, 2024.
In the 2019 LS Polls, Santosh Kumar of (JD(U) won from Purnia, polling 632,924 votes comprising 54.85% of the total number of votes polled. Kumar defeated Congress candidate Uday Singh Alias Pappu Singh by a margin of 263461 votes. Santosh Kumar had won from Purnia in 2014 as well, getting 418,826 votes (41.15%) and defeating Pappu Singh, who was with BJP then, by a margin of 1,16,669 votes.
