Bihar Election Visualisation Part I

As Bihar heads into elections in October-November, the main narrative of both the contestants, the Bharatiya Janata Party and the alliance of the Janata Dal, Congress and the RJD, has centred around the issue of development. In 2008-09, the Government of India identified 90 minority concentration districts (MCD) all over the country that had a dominant minority population. Seven of them are located in Bihar. In this series, we will display key data figures, such as crime, literacy, sex, ratio and political trajectories to give an outline of the status of these districts and show how people have voted in the past and why. 

Araria

Araria is located in eastern Bihar, and has been identified as one of the seven minority districts in the state, with a Muslim population of 41.4 per cent and an overall minority concentration of 41.6 per cent. It has nine subdistricts or tehsils. Out of the six seats in the district, four are held by the BJP. In 2005, JD(U) held Jokhihat and Sikti, in 2010 they retained Jokihat but lost Sikti to the Lok Janshakti Party. 

Kishanganj

Araria and Kishanganj border each other. In 2008-09 it had a Muslim population of 74.3 per cent. The district lags behind in both the availability of basic amenities and education. It has seven tehsils, and four Assembly seats. In 2005, there were only three which were shared by the Congress, Samajwadi Party and Rashtriya Janata Dal. In 2010, the congress won 2 out of four seats, while the LJP and RJD have the other two.