Parihar Election: BJP's Gayatri Devi Leads, Ritu Jaiswal Trails in High-Stakes Bihar Battle

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The Parihar assembly constituency in Bihar is witnessing a closely contested election, with BJP's Gayatri Devi taking a strong lead over Independent candidate Ritu Jaiswal, who is backed by the RJD. According to the latest Election Commission of India (ECI) updates, Devi is ahead by 5,679 votes. Ritu Jaiswal, the RJD women's wing president, decided to contest as an Independent after her party gave the Parihar ticket to Smita Purve Gupta, the daughter-in-law of former RJD president Ramchandra Purve. Jaiswal had previously expressed her discontent over the decision, citing Purve's role in her defeat in the 2020 assembly polls. Jaiswal, married to a former civil servant, has a strong social work background, focusing on women's rights, rural development, and sustainable livelihood programs. She had also contested the 2024 Lok Sabha elections from the Sheohar constituency but lost to JD(U)'s Lovely Anand. Gayatri Devi, the BJP's incumbent candidate, has a long history in politics, dating back to 1990. She has won from Sitamarhi in the Bihar assembly polls twice, in 2015 and 2020. Devi is contesting the elections from Parihar for a third consecutive term. The Parihar assembly constituency has been a BJP stronghold since 2010, with 3.02 lakh voters, including 1.59 lakh men and 1.43 lakh women. The constituency has seen a closely contested battle in the past, with Devi defeating Jaiswal by a margin of just 1,569 votes in the 2020 assembly elections. The Bihar assembly elections 2025 are witnessing a multi-party contest, with the RJD naming 143 candidates, the Congress 61, the CPI nine, and the CPI(M) four. The NDA, comprising the BJP, JD(U), LJP(RV), HAM(S), and RLM, is contesting on 147 seats. The results of the Parihar election are crucial in determining the fate of these parties in the state.