Sheohar

This article is about the municipality in India. For its namesake district, see Sheohar district.

Sheohar Sheohar
City
Population  (2001)
• Total	515,961

Sheohar(Hindi: शिवहर) is headquarters of Sheohar district.

Geography

Sheohar is located at coor 26.52N, 85.3E. It has an average elevation of 53 metres (173 feet).

The district contains five blocks: Piprahi, Purnahiya, Sheohar, Taryani and Dumri Katsari.

The district was carved out of the district of Sitamarhi in 1994. After India’s independence the 1st parliamentary elections were held in 1952. Sheohar was part of Muzzaffarpur North-West parliamentary constituency, after the first delimitation Sheohar became part of Sitamarhi Parliamentary constituency. After the 2nd delimitation process the name of this particular constituency was changed to Sheohar, realizing the important role played by Sheohar in this part of Bihar. And since then the name of this particular constituency has remained to be Sheohar. Earlier Sheohar was a Block, but somehow the government realized and declared it a district. Sheohar is the smallest District of Bihar.

Sheohar is part of Sheohar Parliamentary constituency. Sheohar Parliamentary constituency consists of six-assembly segments; Riga, Belsand, Sheohar, Madhuban, Chiraia and Dhaka assembly segments.

Demographics

The district occupies an area of 443 km and has a population of 531,997 (as of 2011 census).

Politics

In particular Sheohar Parliamentary constituency is dominated by Rajputs so the natural leadership of this constituency has been mostly with the Rajputs. [1]Thakur Jugal Kishore Sinha (Hindi: ठाकुर युगल किशोर सिंह) was the first Member of Parliament from this particular constituency, was elected in 1953 (lok-Sabha) from Muzzffarpur North-West {Sheohar was part of the same constituency}. Thakur Jugal Kishore Sinha was involved in the freedom struggle and was prominent leader of the cooperative movement.

Thakur Jugal Kishore Sinha’s wife [2] Smt.Ram Dulari Sinha (Hindi: राम दुलारी सिन्हा) like him was also involved in the freedom struggle and was elected Member of Parliament several times in 1980 and 1984 respectively. She was also Member of Parliament from Patna Parliamentary constituency in 1962. Ram Dulari Sinha brought this constituency into limelight, when she became Union Minister and held important portfolios which includes I&B, Industry Steel&Mines, commerce, Labour Home and so on, was also Cabinet Minister in the State Government, nonetheless was elected Vice-Chairman of International Labour Organisation.Later on she became the Governor of Kerela. Before joining electoral politics she was a principal of a reputed college.

Thakur Jugal Kishore Sinha’s and his wife Smt. Ram Dulari Sinha’s legacy does not end here. As of today their son Dr.Madhurendra Kumar Singh is an active leader of Sheohar Parliamentary constituency. An educated leader like his parents.A congress party loyalist like his mother contested the [3] 1989 Parliamentary elections on congress ticket.

File:Madhurendra Kumar Singh with supporters.jpg

Madhurendra Kumar Singh with supporters

• 
  Madhurendra Kumar Singh

Dr.Madhurendra Kumar Singh entered politics during his student life and became the Vice-President of National Students Union Of India and Bihar Pradesh Youth Congress successively, Sitamarhi District Congress Committee President,Secretary of Bihar Congress Committee and held several other posts within the organization. He came into limelight from the student politics and co-operative movement.Currently he is [4] member of All India Congress Committee and also a Professor in Psychology. Recently he has been inducted in the Committee for Flagship of the Congress Party among othet big leaders. This Committee is formed to keep a check on the Central Government policies and schemes in the Non-Congress ruled states and to make sure that these policies are followed and implemented by the state Government.

The Sheohar electorate has also given opportunity to one of the leader’s of his time Thakur Girjanandan Singh who was elected Member of Parliament (1977) once. But unlike him his son Thakur Prabhakar failed to provide leadership and the electorate of Sheohar rejected him in 1980 and [5] 1984 Parliament elections, as he failed to save his security and lost to Smt. Ram Dulari Sinha both the times.

Another important leader who managed to become union minister once was Hari Kishore Singh, he represented this constituency twice in 1989 and 1991 respectively. Later he became Indian Ambassador to Syria. But ultimately the electors of Sheohar rejected him, as he has never been loyal to any party, he kept hopping from one political party to another.

Another important leader was Raghunath Jha, due to his efforts the Bihar Legislature declared Sheohar as a District.Has represented Sheohar assembly constituency several times from different political parties and was elected to parliament from Goplganj and Bettiah parliamentary constituencies in 1999 and 2004 respectively, but lost from Sheohar parliamentary constituency once in 1991 against Hari Kishore Singh. Presently his son Ajit Jha represents sheohar assembly constituency.

Anand Mohan, the only leader with criminal background in the history of Sheohar Parliamentary constituency,was elected twice in 1996 and 1998 respectively.this was the period when criminal elements entered politics and won. Here was a man convicted of serious criminal offences, gained the sympathy of electors in 1996 and won the election from jail and was later released on Bail. Currently serving life-imprisonment, convicted in the murder of a Government Officer, was barred from contesting 2009 elections. Due to his criminal Background and outsider tag (he hails from a different District) was rejected in 1999 and 2004 elections and in [6] 2004 General Elections his security was forfeited. In 2009 elections his wife contested on this seat and like her husband failed to save her security deposit. Their chapter is over as the electorate of not only Sheohar, but also whole Bihar rejected the candidates from criminal background.

In [7] 2004 Sitaram Singh of R.J.D represented Sheohar parliamentary constituency, but as of the electorate of Sheohar rejected him, his security was forfeited and stood 3rd. The electorate of Sheohar chose Rama Devi of B.J.P who is currently Member of Parliament from Sheohar.

This is for the 2nd time in the history of Sheohar Parliamentary Constituency; The electorate has chosen somebody other than Rajputs. Main reason being that the political parties did not put up a better option for the electorate, so there was minimal voting from the Rajput community.