A ground-level survey of the Sasaram Lok Sabha constituency was conducted by India News to analyse the performance of Chhedi Paswan, the Member of Parliament from Sasaram, and gather voters’ feedback about him.
The history of Sasaram is quite ancient. Sultan Sher Shah Suri was born here. His mausoleum still stands here, and there is also a grand temple of Goddess Chandi, the centre of Hindu faith.
The GT Road, built by Sher Shah, also known as Grand Truck Road, passes through here. This road, built during the Mughal era, still connects Delhi to West Bengal.
Sasaram is also known as the ‘Gateway of Bihar,’ and the city of Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh is connected to it. The Sasaram Lok Sabha seat has been a centre of political activity for years. Currently, the prominent BJP leader Chhedi Paswan represents this constituency in the Lok Sabha. His political journey has been quite challenging, involving various parties before joining the BJP.
Between 1985 and 1989, he was a member of the Bihar Legislative Assembly from the Lok Dal Party. In 1989 and 1991, he contested elections from the Sasaram Lok Sabha on Janata Dal tickets, defeating Congress’s Meira Kumar.
From 2000 to 2005, he served as a legislator from the Chakai constituency on an RJD ticket. Later, he joined Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) and won from the Mohania constituency in 2005 and 2010.
After accusing Nitish Kumar of working arbitrarily, he joined the BJP in 2014 and has been the BJP MP from Sasaram continuously in the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections. He is widely popular in the region, known for his influence across all caste groups.
The former Prime Minister Jagjivan Ram was a lifelong MP from Sasaram, winning in all eight general elections from 1952 to 1984. His daughter Meira Kumar, however, could not handle his political legacy well. Although she made a comeback in 2004 and was elected MP in 2009, the BJP currently dominates this constituency.
Sasaram is considered a safe parliamentary constituency. The area includes six assembly seats, with three in the Kaimur district and three in the Rohtas district. The pace of development in this Lok Sabha constituency is relatively slow, with voters often discussing development during elections.
The voting pattern in Sasaram Lok Sabha is influenced by caste considerations, and issues related to development have been a major concern over the years.
Various problems in the area have persisted for years and require urgent attention. The 2024 general election for the Sasaram Lok Sabha seat is considered crucial.
Before the election, the people will likely evaluate the work of their MP, and India News is conducting an accurate survey to assess public opinion. The electorate is keen on making an informed decision about their representative based on their performance.
Based on the allocation of funds and special contributions, we evaluate parliamentary performance. Chhedi Paswan’s presence in Parliament is approximately 87%. However, he participates in debates and questions asked in Parliament only to the extent of 13%, actively raising questions for the development of the constituency and the country. Regarding the utilization of parliamentary funds, 106% of the allocated amount has been spent on Paswan, meaning 6% more than the specified amount. In terms of parliamentary proceedings, he shows a special contribution of about 65%. Based on these criteria, Chhedi Paswan scores 1 in our evaluation, precisely 0.68, which is excellent.
Although parliamentary performance holds little significance during elections, the real measure is what the public thinks about their representative on the ground. In a survey conducted by India News, we asked questions to the people of the Sasaram Lok Sabha constituency, and the responses received were candid. After speaking to thousands of people, the public’s decision is now in front of us.
The responses to our 6 questions from the people of Sasaram Lok Sabha were straightforward. Most people believe that the work of an MP in the constituency is below average. While MPs used to focus on development in the constituency, it is no longer visible. MPs are scarcely seen in the constituency. Clearly, the public is quite dissatisfied with the work of MPs in this Lok Sabha. Meanwhile, the constituency’s residents wanted to see their MPs more active in the area because they had high expectations from them.
When it comes to voting, the public here seems to favour the BJP. The Modi government’s work is earning praise, and the Sasaram Lok Sabha constituency rates its MP Chhedi Paswan as 7 out of 10, scoring 3.08, which is significantly below average. Based on the questions asked to the ground, only 44% gave a favourable response, which is quite low.
In the India News survey of the Sasaram Lok Sabha constituency, we also asked questions about the performance of MPs on the ground. The result of Chhedi Paswan’s ground performance is a score of 0.30 in category 1, which is quite low.
However, today is the era of social media. All social media platforms have asked the same questions to the people of the Sasaram Lok Sabha constituency as in the India News survey. The results of our social media survey are also being presented to you. In the social media survey, Chhedi Paswan is scoring around 0.35 in Category 1, which is less than average. Approximately 35% of people have a favourable opinion about the MP on social media, which is also quite low.
Looking at the work done in Parliament, such as attendance in sessions, the number of questions asked, the utilization of MP funds, and special contributions, Chhedi Paswan scores 0.68 in category 1. In-ground performance, he scores 0.30 in category 1. In the social media survey, he scores 0.35 in category 1. Considering all these, in our ground survey, Chhedi Paswan scores 3.08 in category 7. If we average these scores, Chhedi Paswan scores 4.41 in category 10, which is below average. Consequently, the public of Sasaram Lok Sabha has written in Chhedi Paswan’s report card – FAIL.
The figures obtained from talking to thousands of people in the Sasaram Lok Sabha seat are now being presented to the viewers of India News. After speaking to people of all genders, farmers, labourers, students, and people of every religion and caste, this interesting figure has come to light. Chhedi Paswan, the MP of Sasaram Lok Sabha, is scoring less than 50%, and according to our criteria, the MP is completely unsuccessful.
