The 1996 Lok Sabha (Parliament) election in Bihar was held to elect Members of Parliament (MPs) from 54 parliamentary constituencies in the state. Janata Dal emerged as the leading party, winning 22 seats. Bharatiya Janata Party came second with 18 seats.
A total of 58,438,317 electors were registered to vote across the state. Of these, 34,744,087 votes were polled, resulting in an overall voter turnout of 59.5%. The average victory margin across all constituencies was 76,897 votes, with the closest contest decided by just 2,423 votes and the largest margin reaching 316,155 votes.
A total of 8 political parties won at least one seat in this election. India's Lok Sabha elections use the First-Past-The-Post (FPTP) system, where the candidate with the most votes in each constituency wins the seat. The party or coalition winning a majority of Lok Sabha seats forms the central government and appoints the Prime Minister.
Seat data is not available for this selection.
Seat breakdown: Janata Dal (22), Bharatiya Janata Party (18), Samata Party (6), Communist Party Of India (3), Indian National Congress (2) and 3 other parties.
Click on any constituency name to view the full candidate-wise breakdown with individual vote counts, vote share percentages, and party affiliations.
| Sno. | Constituency | Type | State | Winner | Party | Electors | Votes | Turnout | Margin | Margin% | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 45-Sheohar | GEN | Bihar | Anand Mohan | Samata Party | 1084065 | 692749 | 63.90% | 40637 | 5.90% | 1996 |
| 2 | 46-Sitamarhi | GEN | Bihar | Nawal Kishore Rai | Janata Dal | 1115473 | 746914 | 67.00% | 82257 | 11.00% | 1996 |
| 3 | 47-Madhubani | GEN | Bihar | Chaturanan Mishra | Communist Party Of India | 1106232 | 607552 | 54.90% | 53980 | 8.90% | 1996 |
| 4 | 48-Jhanjharpur | GEN | Bihar | Devendra Prasad Yadav | Janata Dal | 1057257 | 671933 | 63.60% | 78149 | 11.60% | 1996 |
| 5 | 50-Araria | SC | Bihar | Sukdeo Paswan | Janata Dal | 1049489 | 594913 | 56.70% | 48278 | 8.10% | 1996 |
| 6 | 51-Kishanganj | GEN | Bihar | Taslimuddin | Janata Dal | 1130883 | 694288 | 61.40% | 164583 | 23.70% | 1996 |
| 7 | 52-Katihar | GEN | Bihar | Tariq Anwar | Indian National Congress | 995649 | 646733 | 65.00% | 88286 | 13.70% | 1996 |
| 8 | 53-Purnia | GEN | Bihar | Rajesh Ranjan | Samajwadi Party | 1074893 | 679646 | 63.20% | 316155 | 46.50% | 1996 |
| 9 | 54-Madhepura | GEN | Bihar | Sharad Yadav | Janata Dal | 999278 | 624787 | 62.50% | 237144 | 38.00% | 1996 |
| 10 | 55-Darbhanga | GEN | Bihar | Md. Ali Ashraf Fatmi | Janata Dal | 1025836 | 628362 | 61.30% | 104021 | 16.60% | 1996 |
| 11 | 56-Muzaffarpur | GEN | Bihar | Jai Narain Pd. Nishad | Janata Dal | 1056122 | 645837 | 61.20% | 80074 | 12.40% | 1996 |
| 12 | 57-Vaishali | GEN | Bihar | Raghybansh Prasad Singh | Janata Dal | 1054819 | 711763 | 67.50% | 62683 | 8.80% | 1996 |
| 13 | 58-Gopalganj | GEN | Bihar | Lal Babu Pd. Yadav | Janata Dal | 1159352 | 685446 | 59.10% | 119496 | 17.40% | 1996 |
| 14 | 59-Siwan | GEN | Bihar | M. Sahabuddin | Janata Dal | 992425 | 630460 | 63.50% | 165243 | 26.20% | 1996 |
| 15 | 60-Maharajganj | GEN | Bihar | Ram Bahadur Singh | Samata Party | 985888 | 606896 | 61.60% | 152854 | 25.20% | 1996 |
| 16 | 62-Hajipur | SC | Bihar | Ram Vilas Paswan | Janata Dal | 1058192 | 759759 | 71.80% | 46231 | 6.10% | 1996 |
| 17 | 64-Samastipur | GEN | Bihar | Ajit Kumar Mehta | Janata Dal | 1217114 | 735266 | 60.40% | 141934 | 19.30% | 1996 |
| 18 | 65-Begusarai | GEN | Bihar | Ramendra Kumar | Independent | 1102549 | 669783 | 60.80% | 25924 | 3.90% | 1996 |
| 19 | 66-Khagaria | GEN | Bihar | Anil Kumar Yadav | Janata Dal | 1033568 | 683001 | 66.10% | 12377 | 1.80% | 1996 |
| 20 | 67-Bhagalpur | GEN | Bihar | Chunchun Prasad Yadav | Janata Dal | 1227940 | 655328 | 53.40% | 53137 | 8.10% | 1996 |
| 21 | 68-Banka | GEN | Bihar | Giridhari Yadav | Janata Dal | 1053423 | 640950 | 60.80% | 14715 | 2.30% | 1996 |
| 22 | 69-Munger | GEN | Bihar | Brahmanand Mandal | Samata Party | 1132807 | 742042 | 65.50% | 21146 | 2.80% | 1996 |
| 23 | 70-Nalanda | GEN | Bihar | George Ferandes | Samata Party | 1173101 | 890894 | 75.90% | 167864 | 18.80% | 1996 |
| 24 | 71-Patna Sahib | GEN | Bihar | Ramkripal Yadav | Janata Dal | 1452297 | 781874 | 53.80% | 39467 | 5.00% | 1996 |
| 25 | 73-Arrah | GEN | Bihar | Chandra Deo Prasad Verma | Janata Dal | 1101975 | 644523 | 58.50% | 41041 | 6.40% | 1996 |
| 26 | 74-Buxar | GEN | Bihar | Lal Muni Choubey | Bharatiya Janata Party | 1024374 | 592145 | 57.80% | 63764 | 10.80% | 1996 |
| 27 | 75-Sasaram | SC | Bihar | Muni Lal | Bharatiya Janata Party | 1138941 | 597226 | 52.40% | 53633 | 9.00% | 1996 |
| 28 | 77-Jahanabad | GEN | Bihar | Ramashraya Prasad Singh | Communist Party Of India | 1093022 | 795058 | 72.70% | 95650 | 12.00% | 1996 |
| 29 | 78-Aurangabad | GEN | Bihar | Virendra Kumar Singh | Janata Dal | 1088114 | 546176 | 50.20% | 23032 | 4.20% | 1996 |
| 30 | 79-Gaya | SC | Bihar | Bhagwati Devi | Janata Dal | 1065862 | 638012 | 59.90% | 59623 | 9.30% | 1996 |
| 31 | 80-Nawada | SC | Bihar | Kameshwar Paswan | Bharatiya Janata Party | 1177385 | 751302 | 63.80% | 96914 | 12.90% | 1996 |
| 32 | 141-Rajmahal | ST | Bihar | Thomas Hansda | Indian National Congress | 948273 | 569597 | 60.10% | 143162 | 25.10% | 1996 |
| 33 | 142-Dumka | ST | Bihar | Shibu Soren | Jharkhand Mukti Morcha | 949909 | 528690 | 55.70% | 5478 | 1.00% | 1996 |
| 34 | 143-Godda | GEN | Bihar | Jagdambi Prasad Yadav | Bharatiya Janata Party | 1083740 | 631098 | 58.20% | 56185 | 8.90% | 1996 |
| 35 | 144-Chatra | GEN | Bihar | Dheerendra Agrawal | Bharatiya Janata Party | 1016116 | 515428 | 50.70% | 54370 | 10.50% | 1996 |
| 36 | 145-Kodarma | GEN | Bihar | Ritlal Prasad Verma | Bharatiya Janata Party | 1114679 | 629464 | 56.50% | 46954 | 7.50% | 1996 |
| 37 | 146-Giridih | GEN | Bihar | Ravindra Kumar Pandey | Bharatiya Janata Party | 1108540 | 609940 | 55.00% | 91663 | 15.00% | 1996 |
| 38 | 147-Dhanbad | GEN | Bihar | Rita Verma | Bharatiya Janata Party | 1432169 | 819890 | 57.30% | 22196 | 2.70% | 1996 |
| 39 | 148-Ranchi | GEN | Bihar | Ram Tahal Choudhary | Bharatiya Janata Party | 1126150 | 611980 | 54.30% | 39292 | 6.40% | 1996 |
| 40 | 149-Jamshedpur | GEN | Bihar | Bhardwaj Nitish Janardan | Bharatiya Janata Party | 1138130 | 673748 | 59.20% | 55137 | 8.20% | 1996 |
| 41 | 150-Singhbhum | ST | Bihar | Chitrasen Sinku | Bharatiya Janata Party | 838226 | 479210 | 57.20% | 11947 | 2.50% | 1996 |
| 42 | 151-Khunti | ST | Bihar | Kariya Munda | Bharatiya Janata Party | 823012 | 432147 | 52.50% | 27672 | 6.40% | 1996 |
| 43 | 152-Lohardaga | ST | Bihar | Lalit Oraon | Bharatiya Janata Party | 938725 | 486746 | 51.90% | 40569 | 8.30% | 1996 |
| 44 | 153-Palamau | SC | Bihar | Braj Mohan Ram | Bharatiya Janata Party | 1064450 | 486776 | 45.70% | 54415 | 11.20% | 1996 |
| 45 | 154-Hazaribagh | GEN | Bihar | Mahabir Lal Viswakarma | Bharatiya Janata Party | 1213041 | 628922 | 51.90% | 71251 | 11.30% | 1996 |
| 46 | 551-Bagaha | SC | Bihar | Mahendra Baitha | Samata Party | 1010335 | 463015 | 45.80% | 56072 | 12.10% | 1996 |
| 47 | 552-Balia | GEN | Bihar | Shatrughan Prasad Singh | Communist Party Of India | 994509 | 537617 | 54.10% | 88334 | 16.40% | 1996 |
| 48 | 553-Barh | GEN | Bihar | Nitish Kumar | Samata Party | 1088618 | 707618 | 65.00% | 64854 | 9.20% | 1996 |
| 49 | 554-Bettiah | GEN | Bihar | Madan Prasad Jaiswal | Bharatiya Janata Party | 1091777 | 631754 | 57.90% | 51489 | 8.20% | 1996 |
| 50 | 555-Bikramganj | GEN | Bihar | Kanti Singh | Janata Dal | 1121577 | 659395 | 58.80% | 2423 | 0.40% | 1996 |
| 51 | 556-Chapra | GEN | Bihar | Rajiv Pratap Rudi | Bharatiya Janata Party | 1001896 | 715458 | 71.40% | 15496 | 2.20% | 1996 |
| 52 | 557-Motihari | GEN | Bihar | Radha Mohan Singh | Bharatiya Janata Party | 1115608 | 618512 | 55.40% | 127809 | 20.70% | 1996 |
| 53 | 558-Rosera | SC | Bihar | Pitambar Paswan | Janata Dal | 1059508 | 606085 | 57.20% | 122931 | 20.30% | 1996 |
| 54 | 559-Saharsa | GEN | Bihar | Dinesh Chandera Yadav | Janata Dal | 1131004 | 709379 | 62.70% | 152445 | 21.50% | 1996 |
Data-driven analysis of the 1996 Bihar Lok Sabha election results, covering competitiveness, candidate performance, and voter behaviour.
The victory margin is the difference in votes between the winning candidate and the runner-up. A constituency with a margin under 5,000 votes is considered closely fought. The average margin in Bihar 1996 was 76,897 votes.
The 10 parliamentary constituencies decided by the narrowest margins.
| Constituency | Winner | Party | Margin |
|---|
Candidates receiving less than one-sixth (16.67%) of valid votes forfeit their security deposit. A high forfeiture rate indicates a party fielded candidates in constituencies with little voter support.
NOTA (None of the Above) allows voters to reject all candidates. When NOTA votes exceed the victory margin, it signals significant voter dissatisfaction.
| Constituency | NOTA Votes | Win Margin | NOTA > Margin? |
|---|
The Lok Sabha (House of the People) is the lower house of India's Parliament. Members of Parliament (MPs) are directly elected by voters in their respective parliamentary constituencies through universal adult suffrage.
Bihar is divided into 54 parliamentary constituencies. The constituencies are categorized as: GEN (41 seats), SC (8 seats), ST (5 seats). SC and ST reserved constituencies ensure representation for historically marginalized communities.
India follows the First-Past-The-Post (FPTP) electoral system. The candidate who receives the highest number of votes wins the seat. Elections are conducted by the Election Commission of India (ECI) using Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT).