Lok Sabha 2019 constituency: Droughts, Maoists have hurt Palamu seat in Jharkhand
Polling in Jharkhand will be held in four phases from April 29 to May 19. Votes will be counted on May 23.
The Palamu Lok Sabha seat, which is spread over two districts of Palamu and Garhwa in Jharkhand, is reserved for members of Scheduled Castes.
The parliamentary constituency comprising six assembly segments, Daltonganj Sadar, Chatterpur (SC), Hussainabad, Bhawnathpur, Bishrampur and Garhwa, has seen seven droughts in the past decade and witnessed feudal social structure, subsequent left wing extremism (LWE) and backwardness.
Candidates of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Rashtriya Janta Dal (RJD) and a top Maoists leader, who contested on a Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) ticket, have won this seat during the last three Lok Sabha elections and a by-poll held since Jharkhand came into existence.
In 2004, RJD leader Manoj Kumar became the member of Parliament. In 2009, a top Maoist leader Kameshwar Baitha defeated the RJD’s Ghuran Ram who had won the by-election in 2007. The BJP came to power after former Jharkhand director general of police (DGP) Vishnu Dayal Ram won against the RJD’s Kumar by a huge margin in 2014.
Polling in Jharkhand will be held in four phases from April 29 to May 19. Votes will be counted on May 23.
READ: All about Lok Sabha elections 2019
Here are a few details about the Palamu Lok Sabha seat:
State: Jharkhand
Name of the Lok Sabha constituency: Palamu
Polling date: April 29
2019 candidates: Vishnu Dayal Ram (BJP), Ghuran Ram (RJD), Anjana Bhuiyan (BSP)
Sitting MP, party: Vishnu Dayal Ram, BJP
Winning margin in 2014: 263,942
Runner up name, party: Manoj Kumar, RJD
Number of voters in 2014: 977,323
Percentage of votes polled in 2014: 59.38%
Number of women voters in 2014: 540,261
Number of polling booths in 2014: 1,932
