Purnia Lok Sabha constituency: Candidates for 2019 LS poll, past results, all updates
Purnia Lok Sabha constituency
Picture for representation, AFP
One of the 40 parliamentary constituencies in Bihar, Purnia Lok Sabha constituency will go to polls in the second phase of general elections on April 18. The Purnia Lok Sabha constituency in Bihar falls under the district of the same name is part of Seemanchal region.
While Uday Singh alias Pappu Singh of the BJP won from here for two consecutive terms in 2004 and 2009, he lost to JD(U)'s Santosh Kumar in 2014 despite Modi wave. Santosh Kumar defeated Uday Singh by 1.16 lakh votes in 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
This was one the very few Lok Sabha seats in the Hindi belt which the BJP failed to win in 2014 Narendra Modi wave.
As the seat went to the JD(U) under NDA's seat-sharing arrangement, Uday Singh quit the BJP and joined the Congress. He had resigned from BJP in January alleging that it had surrendered before the discredited JD(U) headed by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
He joined the Congress in March and was later announced party's candidate from the seat. Interestingly, he was in Congress before 2004 and had quit the party to join the BJP. His mother Madhuri Singh was also a Congress leader and had represented the constituency in Lok Sabha in 1980 and 1984.
Purnia Lok Sabha constituency comprises six legislative assembly segments: Kasba, Banmankhi, Rupauli, Dhamdaha, Purnia and Korha.
In 2019 Lok Sabha election, Uday Singh is pitted against sitting MP Santosh Kumar of the Janata Dal (United) which is part of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) also comprising Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Lok Janshakti Party (LJP).
NDA is facing the challenge of Bihar Mahagathbandhan which comprises Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Congress, Rashtriya Lok Samta Party (RLSP), Hindustan Awam Morcha (HAM) and Vikasshil Insan Party (VIP).
The polling on this seat will be held in the second phase of Lok Sabha elections on April 18. Five constituencies Bihar's 40 Lok Sabha seats - Kishanganj, Katihar, Purnia, Bhagalpur and Banka - will go to polls in the second phase. The results of the Lok Sabha election 2019 will be declared on May 23.