Gaya is one of the 40 parliamentary constituencies in Bihar. Gaya registered 56.70 percent voter turnout in Lok Sabha Election 2019, a gain of 2.3 percent from 2014. The total number of electors in the constituency is 1700641 while 955279 came out to exercise their franchise. While in 2014, the constituency registered 53.87 percent voter turnout. The total number of electors in the constituency was 1499098 while 807597 voted.
A seat reserved for Scheduled Caste, Gaya Lok Sabha constituency comprises of six Vidhan Sabha segments, namely Sherghati, Barachatti, Bodh Gaya, Gaya Town, Belaganj and Wazirganj. Of the 40 seats in Bihar, 34 are unreserved seats and 6 are reserved for Scheduled Caste candidates.
Bihar Lok Sabha constituencies: All you need to know
The first phase of voting in four constituencies of Bihar ended on April 11. The fate of seven candidates will be decided on May 23 when counting of votes takes place and the result is declared.
In the 2014 election, Bharatiya Janata Party's Hari Manjhi defeated Rashtriya Janata Dal's Ramji Manjhi by 115504 votes on the Gaya seat. The seat saw an overall voter turnout of 53.93 per cent which included 51.40 per cent female and 56.21 per cent male voters. Overall, Bihar had witnessed a turnout of 56.28 per cent in the 2014 Lok Sabha election.
Here is the full list of candidates contesting the Lok Sabha election in 2019 from Gaya Lok Sabha constituency of Bihar.
| 1 | UMESH RAJAK | Peoples Party of India (Democratic) |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | Jitan Ram Manjhi | Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) |
| 5 | DILIP KUMAR | Bahujan Samaj Party |
| 8 | VIJAY KUMAR | Janata Dal (United) |
| 12 | VIJAY KUMAR CHAUDHARI | Janta Dal Rashtravadi |
| 13 | DAYANAND RAJWANSHI | Moolniwasi Samaj Party |
| 14 | SHIV SHANKAR | Ambedkarite Party of India |
| 15 | RAKESH CHAUDHARI | Moulik Adhikar Party |
| 16 | SUNIL PASWAN | Bharat Bhrashtachar Mitao Party |
| 17 | PRAKASH CHANDRA | Public Mission Party |
| 18 | DIN DAYAL BHARTI | Nationalist Congress Party |
| 19 | RAJESH KUMAR PASWAN | Aam Janta Party Rashtriya |
| 20 | GIRIDHAR SAPERA | Bharatiya Rashtriya Morcha |
| 21 | SANJIT PASWAN | Independent |
There are reports that former Bihar chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, who quit the NDA and joined the Mahagatbandhan, has likely been offered the Gaya seat to contest the election. However, Manjhi has said that he is unwilling to accept just one seat for his party Hindustani Awam Morcha in the Grand alliance. He even said that his party will contest alone in 20 of 40 seats if they are not given a respectable share of seats.
Gaya features in the list of the 250 districts of the country which are economically dependent. They heavily bank on the government's Backward Regions Grant Fund Programme for its economic privileges.
