New Delhi: Popular folk singer Maithili Thakur made an impressive debut in electoral politics Friday, winning the Alinagar Assembly seat in Bihar by a margin of more than 11,000 votes, delivering on the faith the BJP placed in the 25-year-old despite protests from some quarters within the party.
According to the Election Commissions website at 6.30 pm Friday, Thakur got 84,915 votes after all 25 rounds of counting had been done. She was leading the Rashtriya Janata Dal’ Binod Mishra, who got 73,185 votes, by a margin of 11,730 votes.
Biplaw Kumar Choudhary of the Jan Suraaj Party (JSP) was a distant fourth with just 2,275 votes.
Alinagar is part of Darbhanga district, while Thakur hails from Benipatti in the neighbouring Madhubani district, about 35 km from the Mithilanchal region in north Bihar.
Thakur joined the BJP just a month before the polls. In fielding Thakur, the BJP chose to focus not only on a generational shift, but also sought to highlight the fact that a young leader was given a chance who does not belong to a political family.
While addressing a rally in Alinagar in support of Thakur, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had stressed that youngsters should be given a chance in politics.
The Alinagar constituency was carved out in 2008 following the recommendations of the Delimitation Commission. Elections were held for the first time in 2010. The constituency is dominated by Brahmin, Yadav, and Muslim voters, who have in the past played a major role in determining the results.
The party had also showcased Thakur as ‘mithila ki beti (daughter of Mithila)’, and the BJP candidate too had made an effort to especially reach out to the women voters.
Thakur, born in Benipatti in Bihar’s Madhubani district, rose to fame after her performance and participation in Zee TV’s show ‘Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Little Champs’ in 2011.
Trained by her father and grandfather in Maithili folk music and Hindustani classical music, the 25-year-old is known for singing folk songs, particularly in Maithili, Bhojpuri, and Hindi.
Being a popular youth figure, she was also made state icon for Bihar in 2023 by the Election Commission of India.
Several BJP bigwigs, including Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, had campaigned in support of Thakur. Union Minister and in-charge of Bihar elections Dharmendra Pradhan had closely monitored her campaign. The local unit, too, was pressed into action to extend her all support.
The BJP decided to field Maithili Thakur after Mishri Lal Yadav, who won the 2020 election from the Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) and later joined the BJP, was convicted in a case and his assembly membership was revoked. During that time, VIP was part of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
The Alinagar seat is considered a bastion of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), and in 2010 and 2015, RJD leader Abdul Bari Siddiqui had won from Alinagar. In 2015, BJP’s Mishri Lal Yadav lost to Siddiqui. In 2020, the RJD fielded Binod Mishra replacing but Mishra lost.
The BJP, while zeroing in on Maithili Thakur, is banking on her social media following and public appeal, especially her connection with the younger generation, which it believes will work in the party’s favour. The singer has 6.3 million Instagram followers and posts regular updates about her programmes.
Caste combinations will play a major role in the constituency, as both the BJP and the RJD candidates are upper-caste Brahmins. Alinagar is one of the few assembly constituencies in Bihar where Brahmin and Muslim voters play a decisive role. Alinagar has a Scheduled Caste population of approximately 13 percent and a Muslim population of over 21 percent. Brahmin voters are also around 20 percent.
(Edited by Ajeet Tiwari)
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