Nautan Assembly Seat: बिहार की ऐतिहासिक सीट जिसने राज्य को मुख्यमंत्री दिया और कांग्रेस को 6 बार जिताया

Nautan Assembly Seat: The seat of husband and wife who won the Congress 6 times, from where Kedar Pandey became the Chief Minister

Nautan Assembly Seat is an important milestone in Bihar politics, which also gave a Chief Minister to the state and kept the hold of Congress strong for decades. There are many political stories related to this assembly seat of West Champaran district, which are still in discussion. Especially the series of victories of former Chief Minister Kedar Pandey and his wife Kamala Pandey makes this seat historic.

Geographical and political position of Nautan Assembly Seat

Nautan Assembly Seat is located in West Champaran district. This district is located near the Nepal border in the northern part of Bihar and is known for its historical and political importance. There are a total of 9 assembly seats in the district – which include Valmiki Nagar, Ramnagar (SC), Narkatiaganj, Bagaha, Lauriya, Chanpatia, Bettiah and Sikta apart from Nautan.

Electoral history of Nautan seat: 1951 till now

1951: Congress's Parvati Devi became the first MLA

The first elections on Nautan Assembly Seat were held in 1951, in which Congress's Parvati Devi won. She defeated independent candidate Dhusudan Prasad. However, after this the seat did not exist for the next few years.

1967: Entry of Kedar Pandey and Nautan becoming a Congress stronghold

This seat came into existence again in 1967. This time Congress leader Kedar Pandey won and made Nautan his political fort. He kept winning from here continuously till 1967, 1969, 1972 and 1977. In 1972, he became the Chief Minister of Bihar by winning from this seat.

Kedar Pandey: The journey from freedom fighter to Chief Minister

Kedar Pandey was born in 1920 in West Champaran. After taking a law degree from Banaras Hindu University, he joined the freedom struggle and also went to jail in the 1942 movement. In 1952, he started his political career by winning the election from Bagaha-cum-Ramnagar seat.

Journey from Nautan to becoming Chief Minister

By winning elections from Nautan continuously since 1967, he made this seat a stronghold of Congress. When he won the assembly elections in 1972, he was made the Chief Minister of Bihar. However, he remained in this post for only 15 months.

Hold remained even after the Emergency

Kedar Pandey retained his seat even in the Janata wave of 1977. He defeated Bhawani Prasad Jaiswal of Janata Party. This proved that his hold was not only because of the party, but also because of the trust of the people.

Wife Kamala Pandey took over after 1980

When Kedar Pandey became a minister in the central government by winning the Lok Sabha elections in 1980, the party fielded his wife Kamala Pandey from Nautan. Kamala Pandey won the seat twice in 1980 and 1985. The husband-wife duo thus won the seat for the Congress a total of six times.

Congress' decline and new political equations

Congress's defeat in 1990

Congress's grip weakened in the 1990 election. Ramakant Dwivedi of the Communist Party of India won the seat by defeating Birbal Prasad of the Janata Dal. Kamala Pandey slipped to the third position in this election and could not even save her deposit.

1995: Independent Satan Yadav wins

In this election, Satan Yadav won by a huge margin as an independent candidate. He defeated Baidyanath Prasad Mahto of the Samata Party by 26,952 votes.

Rise of Baidyanath Mahto and hat-trick victory

2000, 2005 (February and October): Baidyanath Mahto won three times

Baidyanath Prasad Mahto won from the Samata Party in 2000. After this, he also won both the assembly elections of 2005. Samata Party had merged with Janata Dal (United) during this time.

2009: Baidyanath Mahto became MP

In 2009, JDU gave him a Lok Sabha ticket from Valmiki Nagar and he became an MP. After this, by-elections were held in Nautan in which Narayan Prasad of BSP won.

Narayan Prasad's political journey

2010: Defeat from LJP

In 2010, Narayan Prasad contested from Lok Janshakti Party but lost. He was defeated by JDU's Manorama Prasad by 22,764 votes.

2015 and 2020: Won twice from BJP

In 2015, Narayan Prasad contested on a BJP ticket and defeated former MP Baidyanath Prasad Mahto. In 2020, he retained his seat by defeating Sheikh Mohammad Kamran of Congress by 25,896 votes.

Possibilities of 2025 elections on Nautan Assembly Seat

Assembly elections are going to be held in Bihar at the end of 2025. Nautan Assembly Seat is once again in the news. At present, Narayan Prasad of BJP is the MLA here. But Congress, RJD, JDU and other parties have become active regarding this seat.

Why is Nautan Assembly Seat special?

• This seat gave Bihar a Chief Minister.

• The husband-wife duo made Congress win 6 times.

• Congress's hold remained even after the Emergency.

• Many political equations changed on the seat since 1990.

Conclusion

Nautan Assembly Seat is an important chapter in Bihar politics. Here the pair of Kedar Pandey and Kamala Pandey gave victory to Congress for years. Then came Baidyanath Mahato, and now Narayan Prasad of BJP is handling the seat. In the 2025 elections, it will be interesting to see whether a new political chapter will be written here again, or the old trust will remain intact.