As Bihar prepares to hold the Assembly elections that are going to be crucial in 2025, consideration of regional leaders such as Indradev Manjhi, whose candidature in the Bhore (SC) seat in 2005 revealed the real picture of local party work and political pulse of the marginalized population is worth looking back at.
Education & Background
Indradev Manjhi was around 49 years, according to his affidavit of 2005 to the Election Commission, son of Chandrika Manjhi. He also did his schooling till his 10th standard (Matriculation) in 1974 under the Bihar School Examination Board, Patna..
Assets, Liabilities & Legal Record
Manjhi has claimed the total asset of about 5.5 lakh rupees; he has declared movable and immovable property. He had small liabilities of about 25 thousand rupees. He recorded a single criminal case of sections dealing with grievous hurt, wrongful restraint, assaulting a public servant as well as common intention but did not result in conviction.
Vote and Election Results
The second position holder of the Bhore (SC) seat of the assembly in the assembly elections 2005 was Indradev Manjhi who garnered 27,190 votes indicating a fraction above 29.55 percent of the total number of votes. He trailed Anil Kumar who won the RJD by 33,081 votes ahead of him with about 5,891 votes lead.
Party & Political Affiliation
He battled in a ticket of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a sign of BJP chances to break into reservation SC seats in Gopalganj district through NDA coalitions. His candidature was symbolic of an effort to bring in grassroots activism amongst the Scheduled Castes who were traditionally a not so favourable group to the BJP.
Career & Campaign
There is little public record of any wider political or professional experience of Manjhi since the 2005 candidature. He has a humble grassroots image on his political profile. Campaign strategies were probably loose and used on the local party machines as opposed to huge money.
Bhore Constituency Politics
Bhore (SC) constituency of Gopalganj was one of the constituencies where RJD and JD(U) had been in contention. In 2005, the RJD candidate Anil Kumar won by a margin of only about 10,000 votes, thus indicating that the BJP was making strong gains among SC segments as Manjhi had polled 29.5 per cent.
The 2005 political adventure of Indradev Manjhi will indicate the participation of low profile, albeit like-minded grassroots activists in the electoral politics. He was not a winner, but his spotless record, lack of ransacked wealth, and enough votes do illuminate the democratic hues well beyond the big news, showing how much political canvases in Bihar are marked by very different voices.
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