Patna, May 27 : Voting in the last phase of the Lok Sabha elections will be held on June 1 on the remaining eight seats of Bihar and the Sasaram Lok Sabha constituency is one of them.

As voting day nears, election campaigning is at its peak and leaders of the NDA and Grand Alliance alike are holding back-to-back poll meetings and discussing equations at every square and intersection in Bihar.

Historically, Sasaram Lok Sabha constituency has been the stronghold of three families i.e. Babu Jagjivan Ram's clan, Munilal Ram and Chhedi Paswan.

In all the elections held from 1952 to 1984, only Babu Jagjivan Ram was victorious, no matter which party's ticket he contested on.

It was only after Babu Jagjivan Ram's demise that anyone else could win from this seat.

At present, this seat is occupied by the BJP and the party has given the ticket to Shivesh Ram, who is the son of Munilal Ram.

Like most of the seats in Bihar, there is a direct contest between the NDA and the Grand Alliance for the Sasaram Lok Sabha seat.

The NDA refused a ticket to the BJP's sitting MP Chhedi Paswan and fielded Shivesh Ram while Manoj Kumar of the Congress is posing a challenge from the Grand Alliance's camp.

Over the years, the Sasaram Lok Sabha seat, which was considered the stronghold of Babu Jagjivan Ram and his daughter Meira Kumar, has become a BJP stronghold.

The BJP won here for the first time in 1996 and Munilal became the MP. After that, Munilal also won in 1998 and 1999 and scored a hat-trick.

Although the Congress' Meira Kumar won in 2004 and 2009, BJP's Chhedi Paswan won from here in 2014 and 2019.

Sasaram is a historic city of Bihar and the birthplace of Sher Shah Suri, who ousted Delhi's Mughal ruler Humayun.

At the same time, Rohtas District is also mentioned in our mythological tales. It is believed that the district was named Rohtas after Rohitashva, the son of King Satya Harischandra.

At present, Sher Shah's tomb is a tourist spot here and the country's famous GT Road passes through Sasaram.

It is also a place of pilgrimage for Hindus as the temples of Maa Mundeshwari Devi and Tarachandi Dham are located here.

Sasaram Lok Sabha seat comprises Mohania, Bhabua and Chainpur Assembly constituencies which fall in Kaimur District while Chenari, Sasaram and Kargahar are in the Rohtas District.

Out of all these six Assembly seats, five are occupied by the Grand Alliance while the JD(U)'s Jama Khan is the MLA from the Chainpur seat.

Jama Khan was the only BSP candidate who won the 2020 Assembly election and later joined the JD(U).

The Sasaram Lok Sabha seat has an electorate of over 19,41,730 of which around 23 per cent are upper caste voters, 15 per cent Kushwahas, 10 per cent Yadavs, 20 per cent OBCs, 7 per cent EBCs and 25 per cent Dalit voters.

Like the last election, there is a direct contest between the BJP and Congress on the Sasaram Lok Sabha seat. However, the candidates of both parties have changed.

The BJP has fielded Shivesh Ram in place of Chhedi Paswan who won in 2014 and 2019. After Meira Kumar refused to contest the election, the Congress bet on Manoj Kumar who came from the BSP.

Manoj Kumar was successful in getting more than 86,000 votes as a BSP candidate in the last election.

'I am contesting here in Sasaram to raise public-related issues. I will go among the people, especially on issues of agriculture, farming and unemployment. I am confident that I will win and bring back the traditional seat of Congress in the party's bag once again,' said Manoj Kumar.

'There is a network of canals in Magadh and Shahabad and it is called the rice bowl but unfortunately there is no water in Indrapuri Barrage, so if the public blesses me and I win the election, then my first goal will be to ensure that water reaches every field. People should also get water from Karamchat Dam,' said Shivesh Ram.

/IANS