THE ARA PARLIAMENTARY CONSTITUENCY CHANGED ITS NAME FOR THE THIRD TIME THE PRESENT PARLIAMENTARY CONSTITUENCY WAS KNOWN AS SHAHABAD PARLIAMENTARY CONTITUENCY IN 1952

THE ARA PARLIAMENTARY CONSTITUENCY CHANGED ITS NAME FOR THE THIRD TIME

THE PRESENT PARLIAMENTARY CONSTITUENCY WAS KNOWN AS SHAHABAD PARLIAMENTARY CONTITUENCY IN 1952

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RAJIV NAYAN AGRAWAL

ARA-----------------------------Ara Parliamentary Constituency has seen many changes after independence. The name has changed for the third time. There has also been a change in the assembly constituencies. Earlier there were six Assembly Contituencies but now there are seven Assembly Constituencies in it. The Ara Parliamentary Constituency was divided into two districts: Patna and Shahabad but now after new delimitation, Ara Parliamentary Constituency is limited only to the limits of Bhojpur district. Shahpur Assembly Constituency of Bhojpur district was in Buxar Parliamentary Constituency while some parts of Piro Assembly Constituency were in the Bikramganj Parliamentary Constituency but now it is now within the limits of Bhojpur district.

Ara once a civic town and headquarters of Bhojpur district, is an important ancient and historical city of Bihar and was called ‘Mini Varanasi.’ It is located 50 kilometer west to Patna, capital of Bihar. It is linked with other parts of the country by road and rail. It is situated 136 miles east-north-east of Varanasi, 37 miles west of Patna, 14 miles south of the river Ganga and 8 miles west of the river Sone. This is the main branch of east-central railway and the junction of Ara-Sasaram railway line. The main Ara Canal branch of the eastern canal of the Sone originating from Dehari-on-Sone also passes through Ara and it was made a municipality in the year 1865 by the British.

In the first General Election held after independence in the year 1952, the name of this Parliamentary Constituency was Shahabad Patna Parliamentary Constituency. Villages of Badahara, Ara Muffassil, Sahar, Sandesh, Ara town, Ara police stations areas of Shahabad Sadar, (Ara) Sub-Division of Shahabad district while villages of Bikram, Bihata and Paliganj police stations areas of Danapur Sub-Division of Patna district came under this Ara Parliamentary Constituency. There are six Assembly Constituencies under Shahabad Parliamentary Constituency. After independence, from the second general election to the fifth general election i.e. from the year 1957 to 1977, the name of this Parliamentary Constituency was changed from Shahabad Patna Parliamentary Constituency to Shahabad Parliamentary Constituency under which six Assembly Constituencies such as Sandesh, Ara, Ara Muffassil, Sahar of Bhojpur district and Vikram and Paliganj Assembly Constituencies of Patna district were included. From 1977 to 2008, Ara Parliamentary Constituency had six Assembly Constituencies that included Maner and Paliganj from Patna district and Sandesh, Badahara, Ara and Sahar from Bhojpur district.

During the sixth Parliamentary election in the year 1977, the name of the erstwhile Shahabad Parliamentary Constituency was once again changed to Ara Parliamentary Constituency and since it is known by this name. However, after delimitation many changes have been made in it. Along with this, the Assembly Constituencies were formed. These Assembly Constituencies include 192-Sandesh, 193-Badahara, 194-Ara, 195-Agiaw, 196-Tarari, 197-Jagdishpur, 198-Shahpur.

Till 1980, the Ara Parliamentary Constituency was represented ny only two MPs:-first Baliam Bhagat of the Indian National Congress and the second Chandra Dev Prasad Verma of Janata Party. After these MPs, the Ara Parliamentary Constituency elected different candidates every time in the elections till 2009. This constituency is known for the struggle between certain groups to get their people elected to the Lok Sabha since the first general election. In 1989, Rameshwar Prasad of Indian People’s Front (IPF) was elected. In 1996, 1998, 1999 parliamentary elections, Chandra Dev Prasad Verma, Haridwar Prasad Singh and Ram Prasad Kushwaha were elected. On the basis of party, Chandra Dev Prasad Verma joined the Janata Party in the year 1977 and Bharatiya Lok Dal in the year 1980 and was elected on both the elections. Balram Bhagat of Indian National Congress won the parliamentary election for the last time in the year 1984, Rameshwar Prasad of the IPF in 1989, Ram Lakhan Singh Yadav of Janata Dal in the year 1991, Chandra Dev Prasad Verma of DMKPA in 1996, Haridwar Prasad Singh of Samata Party in the year 1998. Ram Prasad Singh of RJD in 1999 and Kanti Singh of RJD in the year 2004, Meena Singh okf Janata Dal (United) in the year 2009, Raj Kumar Singh of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the years 2014 and 2019 have won the Parliamentary elections. Baliragm Bhagat of the Indian National Congress won five times in a row and again in the year 1984 from the Ara Parliamentary Constituency while Chandra Dev Prasad Verma on different party symbols +for three times and the Raj Kumar Singh of the BJP for two times in a row.

List of MPs elected from the Ara Parliamentary Constituency:-

1952-Baliram Bhagat of the Indian National Congress (Shahabad Patna Parliamentary Constituency)

1957-Baliram Bhagat of the Indian National Congress (Shahabad Parliamentary Constituency)

1962-Baliram Bhagat of the Indian National Congress

1967-Baliram Bhagat of the Indian National Congress

1971-Balram Bhagat of the Indian National Congress

1977-Chandra Dev Prasad Verma of the Bharatiya Lok Dal

1980-Chandra Dev Prasad Verma of the Janata Dal (Secular)

1984-Baliram Bhagat of the Indian National Congress

1989-Rameshwar Prasad of the IPF

1991-Ram Lakhan Singh Yadav of the Janata Dal

1996-Chandra Dev Prasad Verma of the Janata Dal

1998-Haridwar Prasad Singh of the Samta Party (Rashtirya Adhykash Uday Mandal)

1999-Ram Prasad Singh Kushwaha of the Rashtriya Janada Dal

2004-Kanti Singh of the Rashtriya Janata Dal

2009-Meena Singh of the Janata Dal (United)

2014-Raj Kumar Singh of the Bharatiya Janata Party

2019-Raj Kumar Singh of the Bharatiya Janata Party