2004 Indian general election in Bihar

Indian general election in Bihar, 2004
April–May 2004
40 seats
Turnout	58.02%
	Bihar
Prime Minister before election; Atal Bihari Vajpayee; BJP	Prime Minister after election ; Manmohan Singh; INC

In Bihar the RJD leader Lalu Prasad Yadav, husband of the Bihar Chief Minister Rabri Devi, was able to assemble a broad coalition of anti-NDA parties. It included RJD, Congress, Lok Janshakti, NCP and CPI(M). Congress was sceptical of the coalition, since the party was only allotted four seats by Laloo. The other coalition partners argued that four seats actually reflected the decreasing strength of Congress in the state. Lok Janshakti, a party with strong support amongst Dalit communities, were allotted eight seats. NCP and CPI(M) were allotted one seat each. RJD itself contested 26 seats.

Two large non-NDA parties in the state, CPI and CPI(ML) Liberation, did not join the Lalu-led front but contested individually. CPI(ML)L contested 21 seats and CPI six.

The NDA front consisted of BJP and JD(U). The alliance was threatened at several points, over disagreements on seat-sharing formulas. In the end JD(U) contested 24 seats and BJP 16.

BSP contested all 40 seats and SP 32 on their own, unsuccessfully. Lok Janshakti held sway over Dalit votes and RJD over Yadav votes, thus making it impossible for the Uttar Pradesh-based caste parties to make a breakthrough in the state.

The result was an overwhelming victory for the Laloo-led coalition. It won 29 seats. The rest went to the BJP-JD(U) combine.

Voting in the state was confronted with many irregularities, and repolling was ordered in four constituencies.

Schedule

The schedule of the election was announced by the Election Commission of India on 29 February 2004.^[1]

Poll event^[2]	Phase
Poll event^[2]	1	2	3
Date of announcement	29 February 2004
Notification date	24 March 2004	31 March 2004	8 April 2004
Last date for filing nomination	31 March 2004	7 April 2004	15 April 2004
Scrutiny of nomination	2 April 2004	8 April 2004	16 April 2004
Last date for withdrawal of nomination	5 April 2004	10 April 2004	19 April 2004
Date of poll	20 April 2004	26 April 2004	5 May 2004
Date of counting of votes	13 May 2004
No. of constituencies	11	17	12

Parties and alliances

United Progressive Alliance

	Leader	Seats contested
Rashtriya Janata Dal	Lalu Prasad Yadav	26
Lok Janshakti Party	Ram Vilas Paswan	8
Indian National Congress	Ramjatan Sinha	4
Communist Party of India (Marxist)	Subodh Roy	1
Nationalist Congress Party	Tariq Anwar	1

National Democratic Alliance

Party		Flag	Symbol	Leader	Seats contested
	Janata Dal (United)			Nitish Kumar	24
	Bharatiya Janata Party			Sushil Modi	16

Candidates

Constituency
Constituency
1	Bagaha	LJP	Hiralal Ram	JD(U)	Kailash Baitha
2	Bettiah	RJD	Raghunath Jha	BJP	Madan Prasad Jaiswal
3	Motihari	RJD	Akhilesh Prasad Singh	BJP	Radha Mohan Singh
4	Gopalganj	RJD	Sadhu Yadav	JD(U)	Prabhu Dayal Singh
5	Siwan	RJD	Shahabuddin	JD(U)	Om Prakash Yadav
6	Maharajganj	RJD	Jitendra Swami	JD(U)	Prabhunath Singh
7	Chapra	RJD	Lalu Prasad Yadav	BJP	Rajiv Pratap Rudy
8	Hajipur	LJP	Ram Vilas Paswan	JD(U)	Chhedi Paswan
9	Vaishali	RJD	Raghuvansh Prasad Singh	JD(U)	Dr Harendra Kumar
10	Muzaffarpur	RJD	Bhagwan Lal Sahani	JD(U)	George Fernandes
11	Sitamarhi	RJD	Sitaram Yadav	JD(U)	Nawal Kishore Rai
12	Sheohar	RJD	Sitaram Singh	BJP	Md Anwarul Haque
13	Madhubani	INC	Shakeel Ahmad	BJP	Hukum Deo Narayan Yadav
14	Jhanjharpur	RJD	Devendra Prasad Yadav	JD(U)	Jagannath Mishra
15	Darbhanga	RJD	Ali Ashraf Fatmi	BJP	Kirti Azad
16	Rosera	LJP	Ram Chandra Paswan	JD(U)	Dashai Chaudhary
17	Samastipur	RJD	Alok Kumar Mehta	JD(U)	Ram Chandra Singh
18	Barh	RJD	Vijay Krishna	JD(U)	Nitish Kumar
19	Balia	LJP	Surajbhan Singh	JD(U)	Ram Jeevan Singh
20	Saharsa	LJP	Ranjeet Ranjan	JD(U)	Dinesh Chandra Yadav
21	Madhepura	RJD	Lalu Prasad Yadav	JD(U)	Sharad Yadav
22	Araria	LJP	Ram Sewak Hazari	BJP	Sukdeo Paswan
23	Kishanganj	RJD	Taslimuddin	BJP	Syed Shahnawaz Hussain
24	Purnia	LJP	Pappu Yadav	BJP	Uday Singh
25	Katihar	NCP	Tariq Anwar	BJP	Nikhil Kumar Choudhary
26	Banka	RJD	Giridhari Yadav	JD(U)	Digvijay Singh
27	Bhagalpur	CPI(M)	Subodh Roy	BJP	Sushil Modi
28	Khagaria	RJD	Rabindra Kumar Rana	JD(U)	Renu Kumari
29	Munger	RJD	Jay Prakash Narayan Yadav	JD(U)	Monazir Hassan
30	Begusarai	INC	Krishna Sahi	JD(U)	Lalan Singh
31	Nalanda	LJP	Pushpanjay Kumar	JD(U)	Nitish Kumar
32	Patna	RJD	Ram Kripal Yadav	BJP	C. P. Thakur
33	Arrah	RJD	Kanti Singh	JD(U)	Ashok Kumar Verma
34	Buxar	RJD	Shivanand Tiwari	BJP	Lalmuni Chaubey
35	Sasaram	INC	Meira Kumar	BJP	Muni Lall
36	Bikramganj	RJD	Ram Prasad Singh	JD(U)	Ajit Kumar Singh
37	Aurangabad	INC	Nikhil Kumar	JD(U)	Sushil Kumar Singh
38	Jahanabad	RJD	Ganesh Yadav	JD(U)	Arun Kumar
39	Nawada	RJD	Virchandra Paswan	BJP	Sanjay Paswan
40	Gaya	RJD	Rajesh Kumar Manjhi	BJP	Balbir Chand

Voting and results

Results by alliance or party

Alliance/ Party				Popular vote			Seats
Alliance/ Party				Votes	%	±pp	Contested	Won	+/−
	UPA		RJD	89,94,821	30.67		26	22	16
			LJP	24,02,603	8.19		8	4	4
			INC	13,15,935	4.49		4	3	1
			NCP	2,86,357	0.98		1	0
			CPI(M)	2,27,298	0.77		1	0	1
		Total		1,32,27,014	45.10		40	29
	NDA		JD(U)	65,58,538	22.36		24	6	12
			BJP	42,72,195	14.57		16	5	7
		Total		1,08,30,733	36.93		40	11
	BSP			10,50,484	3.58		40	0
	CPI(M-L)L			7,05,783	2.41		21	0
	SP			6,84,200	2.33		32	0
	CPI			3,43,926	1.17		6	0
	Others			5,55,749	1.88		83	0
	IND			19,31,555	6.59		200	0
Total				2,93,29,444	100%	–	462	40	–

Note: In 1999, before Jharkhand was created as a separate state, Bihar had 54 constituencies.

Results by constituency

Constituency		Winner					Runner-up					Margin
Constituency		Candidate	Party		Votes	%	Candidate	Party		Votes	%	Votes	%
1	Bagaha (SC)	Kailash Baitha		JD(U)	237,989	41.69	Hiralal Ram		LJNSP	172,614	30.24	65,375	11.45
2	Bettiah	Raghunath Jha		RJD	211,590	37.13	Madan Prasad Jaiswal		BJP	186,919	32.80	24,671	4.33
3	Motihari	Akhilesh Prasad Singh		RJD	348,596	51.33	Radha Mohan Singh		BJP	251,572	37.05	97,024	14.29
4	Gopalganj	Sadhu Yadav		RJD	336,016	48.38	Prabhu Dayal Singh		JD(U)	143,097	20.60	192,919	27.78
5	Siwan	Mohammad Shahabuddin		RJD	317,511	49.80	Om Prakash Yadav		JD(U)	213,933	33.56	103,578	16.25
6	Maharajganj	Prabhunath Singh		JD(U)	283,506	42.67	Jitendra Swami		RJD	237,041	35.68	46,465	6.99
7	Chapra	Lalu Prasad Yadav		RJD	228,882	51.31	Rajiv Pratap Rudy		BJP	168,459	37.76	60,423	13.54
8	Hajipur (SC)	Ram Vilas Paswan		LJNSP	477,495	61.72	Chhedi Paswan		JD(U)	239,694	30.98	237,801	30.74
9	Vaishali	Raghuvansh Prasad Singh		RJD	361,503	48.28	Vijay Kumar Shukla		IND	255,568	34.13	105,935	14.15
10	Muzaffarpur	George Fernandes		JD(U)	370,127	47.20	Bhagwan Lal Sahani		RJD	360,434	45.97	9,693	1.24
11	Sitamarhi	Sitaram Yadav		RJD	326,165	47.21	Nawal Kishore Rai		JD(U)	228,160	33.03	98,005	14.19
12	Sheohar	Sitaram Singh		RJD	303,243	45.50	Md Anwarul Haque		BJP	229,360	34.42	73,883	11.09
13	Madhubani	Shakeel Ahmad		INC	328,182	47.21	Hukum Deo Narayan Yadav		BJP	241,103	34.68	87,079	12.53
14	Jhanjharpur	Devendra Prasad Yadav		RJD	323,400	45.92	Jagannath Mishra		JD(U)	310,565	44.10	12,835	1.82
15	Darbhanga	Mohammad Ali Ashraf Fatmi		RJD	427,672	56.08	Kirti Azad		BJP	284,209	37.27	143,463	18.81
16	Rosera (SC)	Ram Chandra Paswan		LJNSP	394,240	55.23	Dasai Chowdhary		JD(U)	255,829	35.84	138,411	19.39
17	Samastipur	Alok Kumar Mehta		RJD	437,457	50.59	Ram Chandra Singh		JD(U)	310,674	35.93	126,783	14.66
18	Barh	Vijay Krishna		RJD	426,856	49.40	Nitish Kumar		JD(U)	389,168	45.04	37,688	4.36
19	Balia	Suraj Singh		LJNSP	233,869	36.98	Shatrughna Prasad Singh		CPI	157,642	24.93	76,227	12.05
20	Saharsa	Ranjeet Ranjan		LJNSP	350,426	47.47	Dinesh Chandra Yadav		JD(U)	319,639	43.30	30,787	4.17
21	Madhepura	Lalu Prasad Yadav		RJD	344,301	49.49	Sharad Yadav		JD(U)	274,314	39.43	69,987	10.06
22	Araria (SC)	Sukdeo Paswan		BJP	216,677	33.21	Ramjidas Rishidev		SP	188,933	28.96	27,744	4.25
23	Kishanganj	Mohammed Taslimuddin		RJD	420,331	51.68	Syed Shahnawaz Hussain		BJP	259,834	31.95	160,497	19.73
24	Purnea	Uday Singh		BJP	244,426	34.47	Pappu Yadav		LJNSP	231,543	32.66	12,883	1.82
25	Katihar	Nikhil Kumar Choudhary		BJP	288,922	41.01	Tariq Anwar		NCP	286,357	40.65	2,565	0.36
26	Banka	Giridhari Yadav		RJD	339,880	47.61	Digvijay Singh		JD(U)	335,211	46.96	4,669	0.65
27	Bhagalpur	Sushil Kumar Modi		BJP	345,151	45.58	Subodh Ray		CPI(M)	227,298	30.01	117,853	15.56
28	Khagaria	Rabindra Kumar Rana		RJD	322,440	47.70	Renu Kushawaha		JD(U)	255,317	37.77	67,123	9.93
29	Monghyr	Jay Prakash Narayan Yadav		RJD	453,286	54.08	Monazir Hassan		JD(U)	337,359	40.25	115,927	13.83
30	Begusarai	Rajiv Ranjan Singh		JD(U)	301,562	44.43	Krishna Sahi		INC	281,071	41.42	20,491	3.02
31	Nalanda	Nitish Kumar		JD(U)	471,310	52.65	Dr. Kumar Pushpanjay		LJNSP	368,914	41.21	102,396	11.44
32	Patna	Ram Kripal Yadav		RJD	433,853	48.12	C. P. Thakur		BJP	395,291	43.84	38,562	4.28
33	Arrah	Kanti Singh		RJD	299,422	38.03	Ram Naresh Ram		CPI(ML)	149,679	19.01	149,743	19.02
34	Buxar	Lalmuni Chaubey		BJP	205,980	31.73	Dadan Singh		IND	151,114	23.28	54,866	8.45
35	Sasaram (SC)	Meira Kumar		INC	416,673	59.76	Muni Lall		BJP	158,411	22.72	258,262	37.04
36	Bikramganj	Ajit Kumar Singh		JD(U)	305,392	41.61	Ram Prasad Kushwaha		RJD	246,591	33.60	58,801	8.01
37	Aurangabad	Nikhil Kumar		INC	290,009	37.80	Sushil Kumar Singh		JD(U)	282,549	36.83	7,460	0.97
38	Jahanabad	Ganesh Prasad Singh		RJD	400,063	46.31	Arun Kumar		JD(U)	353,625	40.94	46,438	5.38
39	Nawada (SC)	Virchandra Paswan		RJD	489,992	48.51	Sanjay Paswan		BJP	433,986	42.97	56,006	5.54
40	Gaya (SC)	Rajesh Kumar Manjhi		RJD	464,829	52.62	Balbir Chand		BJP	361,895	40.97	102,934	11.65

Post-election Union Council of Ministers from Bihar

#	Name	Constituency	Designation	Department	From	To
1	Lalu Prasad Yadav	Chapra	Cabinet Minister	Railways	23 May 2004	22 May 2009	RJD
2	Ram Vilas Paswan	Hajipur (SC)		Chemicals and Fertilizers; Steel	23 May 2004	22 May 2009	LJP
3	Raghuvansh Prasad Singh	Vaishali		Rural Development	23 May 2004	22 May 2009	RJD
4	Meira Kumar	Sasaram (SC)		Social Justice and Empowerment	23 May 2004	22 May 2009	INC
5	Shakeel Ahmad	Madhubani	Minister of State	Communications and Information Technology; Home Affairs	23 May 2004	22 May 2009	INC
6	Akhilesh Prasad Singh	Motihari		Agriculture; Food and Civil Supplies, Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution	23 May 2004	22 May 2009	RJD
7	Mohammed Taslimuddin	Kishanganj		Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises (Until 25 May 2004); Agriculture; Food and Civil Supplies	23 May 2004	22 May 2009
8	Jay Prakash Narayan Yadav	Monghyr		Water Resources	23 May 2004	22 May 2009
9	Mohammad Ali Ashraf Fatmi	Darbhanga		Human Resource Development	23 May 2004	22 May 2009
10	Kanti Singh	Arrah		Human Resource Development; Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises; Tourism; Culture	23 May 2004	22 May 2009
11	Raghunath Jha	Bettiah		Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises	6 April 2008	22 May 2009
12	Prem Chand Gupta	Rajya Sabha (Bihar)	MoS(I/C)	Ministry of Company Affairs (renamed Corporate Affairs in May 2007)	23 May 2004	22 May 2009

Assembly segments wise lead of Parties

Party				Assembly segments
	UPA		RJD	114
			LJP	28
			INC	17
			NCP	4
			CPI(M)	0
		Total		163
	NDA		JD(U)	45
			BJP	28
		Total		73
	Others		SP	3
			BSP	1
			CPI(ML)L	1
			CPI	1
			Independent	1
		Total		7
Total				243

References

^ "General Election Schedule 2004".
^ "Counting of votes for AP assembly begins". 11 May 2004.

External links

Thisismyindia – Election results 2005

[1] "General Election Schedule 2004".

[2] "Counting of votes for AP assembly begins". 11 May 2004.