Muzaffarpur LS constituency: Key election issues are poor infrastructure, lack of clean drinking water, good hospitals, airport

Muzaffarpur (Bihar) [India], May 18 : Five constituencies of Bihar will go to polls during the fifth phase of Lok Sabha polls on May 20: Sitamarhi, Madhubani, Muzaffarpur, Saran and Hajipur.
Muzaffarpur parliamentary constituency, located in North Bihar, will witness a face-off between Ajay Nishad of the Congress and Raj Bhushan Choudhary Nishad representing the BJP.
Two-time MP from Muzaffarpur, Ajay Nishad, resigned from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and joined the Congress on April 2.
Ajay Nishad, son of veteran leader late Captain Jai Narain Prasad Nishad won this seat twice from BJP in 2014 and 2019 and is contesting on a Congress ticket. BJP did not give him the ticket: It is said that his report in the party's internal survey was not good. Dr Raj Bhushan Choudhary Nishad, who had fought against Nishad from Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) in 2019, is a candidate from BJP this time.
BJP, in its fifth list of candidates, gave the election ticket to Raj Bhushan Choudhary from Muzaffarpur, who was defeated by Ajay Nishad in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls with more than 4.10 lakh votes.
After joining the Congress, Ajay Nishad said, "I always worked as per the party. They (the BJP) said that the survey was not good for me. The party leaders (of Congress Party) will decide this and I am ready (to contest elections)."
Earlier, while resigning from the BJP, the Muzaffarpur MP said that he was shocked by the betrayal of the BJP.
"Respected @JPNadda ji, shocked by the betrayal of @BJP4India, I resign from all posts and primary membership of the party," he posted on X.
The Congress expects Nishad's candidature to help them consolidate votes from the extremely backward classes in Muzaffarpur.
Earlier, Muzaffarpur used to be a Congress stronghold.
In 1952, Shyam Nandan Sahay of Congress became the first MP. Praja Socialist Party (PSP's) Ashok Mehta won in 1957 and Congress's Digvijay Narain won in 1962 and 1967. In 1971, senior Congress leader Nawal Kishore Sinha won from here. George Fernandes won on Janata Party ticket in 1977 and 1980.
There are about 17.5 lakh voters in this seat. The upper caste voters are three and a half lakh, Yadavs are two and a half lakh, Muslims are two lakh and Vaishya are two and a half lakh.
The main election issues are poor infrastructure, lack of clean drinking water, hospitals, drainage systems and roads.
People had expected an airport to be built in Muzaffarpur, but it was built in Darbhanga.
Recently while addressing a rally in Muzaffarpur, PM Modi attacked the INDIA bloc leaders over remarks made by Farooq Abdullah, Mani Shankar Aiyar and Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy and said that it appeared that certain leaders of the INDIA bloc had taken 'Supari' to speak against India.
The Prime Minister said that there is a storm in favour of the BJP and NDA in the country.
PM Modi further said that the people of Muzaffarpur and Bihar have suffered the wounds of Naxalism for decades and that RJD's Jungle Raj had pushed Bihar back several decades.
PM Modi asserted that during the Congress regime, an LED bulb used to cost Rs 400 and in Modi's regime, it costs Rs 40-50.
The RJD and the Congress are allies in the INDIA bloc, formed to take on the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the Lok Sabha polls in the state.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar joined hands with the BJP in January 2024, leading to the collapse of the 'Mahagathbandhan' government in the state.
Notably, the 40 seats in Bihar are undergoing polls in all seven phases. In 2019, BJP-led NDA swept the state by winning 39 out of 40 seats, while Congress won just one seat. RJD, a formidable force in the state failed to open its account.
The Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance), the opposition coalition in Bihar, including Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Congress, and Left parties, recently announced that the RJD, its largest constituent, will contest 26 out of the state's 40 Lok Sabha seats. As part of the NDA, BJP and JD(U) will contest on 17 and 16 seats respectively.
Chirag Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) will contest five seats, and Jitan Manjhi's Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) and the Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM) will contest one seat each.
The counting of votes will be held on June 4.