JDU Minister Sheila Mandal Caught in a Triangular Contest in Fulparas

Madhubani (RNI) JDU Minister Sheila Mandal finds herself caught in a triangular contest in the Fulparas Assembly constituency of Madhubani district. She is also facing strong anti-incumbency.

The NDA has once again fielded JDU Minister Sheila Mandal from the Fulparas Assembly constituency. The Grand Alliance has put up Subodh Mandal of the Congress as its candidate, while Jalendra Mishra from Jansuraj has also entered the fray. Several other candidates are also trying their luck in this election.

The role of Brahmin voters has become crucial in the Fulparas Assembly constituency, which was earlier considered a Yadav stronghold. In the 2020 elections, Congress had fielded Kripa Nath Pathak, a candidate with a socialist background. Under the alliance, Mr. Pathak managed to gain widespread support from Yadav and Muslim voters but failed to make an impact on the Brahmin vote bank.

In the last election, Mrs. Mandal, who had entered politics for the first time, defeated Congress candidate Kripa Nath Pathak by 10,967 votes. Mrs. Mandal secured 75,116 votes, while Mr. Pathak received 64,150 votes. Since the 2008 delimitation, this assembly seat has remained under JDU’s control. In the 2010 and 2015 elections, Gulzar Devi, wife of former MLA Devnath Yadav, won this seat on a JDU ticket.

The first election in the Fulparas Assembly constituency was held in 1952, when Kashi Nath Mishra of the Socialist Party was elected as the MLA. In 1977, following Devendra Yadav’s resignation, then Chief Minister Karpuri Thakur won the by-election after a tough contest against Ram Jaipal Singh Yadav of the Congress.

In this election, JDU has once again fielded its sitting MLA, Mrs. Mandal. Within the Grand Alliance, this seat has again gone to the Congress quota. This time, the Congress has fielded Subodh Mandal, the District President, who belongs to the same caste group as the sitting MLA and represents an extremely backward community. This is a new experiment by the party and is one of the major reasons behind the growing challenges for JDU’s Mrs. Mandal. Jansuraj, keeping in mind the sizeable Brahmin population, has made the contest triangular by fielding Mr. Mishra.

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