Bihar Elections 2025: Can Congress stage a comeback in Begusarai? Key dates, candidates, results and more

The Begusarai assembly seat in Bihar has emerged as one of the most closely watched battlegrounds ahead of the 2025 state elections. Once known as the ‘Leningrad of India’ for its strong Left and trade-union roots, Begusarai’s political character has transformed over time. The decline of Left parties and shifting caste alignments have turned this industrial heartland into a swing seat between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Indian National Congress (INC). In the 2020 Assembly elections, BJP’s Kundan Kumar edged past INC’s Amita Bhushan by a slender margin, highlighting the competitiveness that defines this constituency.

Begusarai holds added importance because it lies at the intersection of Bihar’s industrial belt and agrarian hinterland. It falls within the Begusarai Lok Sabha constituency and is seen as a barometer of urban-industrial Bihar’s political mood. Recently, Rahul Gandhi went fishing with locals in Begusarai, accompanied by former state minister Mukesh Sahni of the Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP), a junior partner in the INDIA bloc.

Why Begusarai Matters

Begusarai is an unreserved constituency and forms a vital segment of Bihar’s political landscape. It combines urban and industrial zones, anchored by the Barauni refinery and surrounding industries, with rural and semi-urban regions, making local issues like employment, infrastructure, and flood control central to voter priorities. The electorate numbered over 3.3 lakh in 2020, with a turnout of around 55 per cent.

The seat’s history shows a pattern of alternating results: the INC won in 2015, the BJP in 2010 and 2020. Such shifts make Begusarai a bellwether constituency that mirrors larger state-level trends. Whichever way this seat swings often signals the prevailing momentum across Bihar.

Key Dates and Election Schedule

Ahead of the polls, a Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls was conducted to ensure every eligible citizen’s inclusion. The Model Code of Conduct came into effect immediately after the election announcement.

Candidates and Political Contest

The contest in Begusarai promises to be closely fought once again. The BJP has renominated its sitting MLA Kundan Kumar, while the INC has fielded Amita Bhushan, a former MLA who won the seat in 2015. From the Jan Suraaj Party, Surendra Kumar Sahani will also be in the fray, potentially influencing the vote share. Other major political players in Bihar, including the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Janata Dal (United) (JDU), continue to shape alliances and campaign narratives that could affect the final outcome.

Past Results and Voting Patterns

In the 2020 election, Kundan Kumar of the BJP secured 74,217 votes (39.66 per cent), defeating Amita Bhushan of the INC, who received 69,663 votes (37.23 per cent), a margin of just 4,554 votes. Independent and other-party candidates accounted for the remaining vote share, with turnout at 55.6 per cent. In 2015, however, Amita Bhushan had beaten the BJP’s Surendra Mehta by over 16,000 votes, underscoring the seat’s volatility.

Such fluctuations suggest that voter preferences in Begusarai are influenced less by ideology and more by performance, local concerns, and the effectiveness of party outreach.

Outlook

The 2025 Begusarai Assembly election will test not only the BJP’s ability to retain its foothold but also the opposition’s capacity to consolidate anti-incumbency sentiment. Voters are expected to weigh issues such as industrial development, employment, infrastructure improvement, and social justice. With its symbolic importance and history of swinging between rival camps, Begusarai remains one of the most closely watched constituencies in Bihar.