The Dhaka constituency of Bihar delivered one of the most nail-biting finishes in the 2025 assembly elections, as RJD's Faisal Rahman clinched victory by just 178 votes over BJP's Pawan Kumar Jaiswal. Rahman secured 1,12,727 votes, while Jaiswal finished with a very close 112,549 votes, underscoring how every single vote shaped the outcome in this fiercely contested seat.
Record turnout and the power of participation
This high-stakes faceoff occurred in an election that saw a historic voter turnout of 67.13 percent—the highest in Bihar since 1951. Remarkably, women outnumbered men at the polling booths, notching a 71.6 percent turnout compared to 62.8 percent among male voters. From the early rounds of postal ballots to the final EVM counts, the Dhaka seat exemplified the very spirit of electoral democracy: a decision defined by razor-thin margins and enthusiastic public participation.
The Dhaka Assembly constituency is one of the 243 constituencies in the Bihar Legislative Assembly. It is constituency number 21 of the Bihar Legislative Assembly. The constituency is a general seat and it is not reserved for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs). This constituency comes under the Purvi Champaran Lok Sabha constituency. As per data from the Election Commission, there were 2,07,922 voters in the Dhaka constituency during the 2020 Bihar Assembly Elections. Out of this, 99,920 voters were male and 1,07,086 were female. No voter belonged to the third gender. 916 postal votes were cast in the constituency. The number of service voters in Dhaka in 2020 was 269 (261 were men and 8 were women).
In 2015, the total number of voters in the Dhaka constituency was 1,86,452. Out of this, 89,462 voters were male and 95,963 were female. There were 1,027 postal votes in the constituency. The number of service voters in Dhaka in 2015 was 78 (74 were men and 4 were women). In 2015, RJD candidate Faisal Rahman registered a win in the Dhaka constituency. In 2010, Independent candidate Pawan Kumar Jaiswal registered his victory from the seat. The Dhaka Assembly constituency is a part of the Purvi Champaran (East) district.
In 2020, Pawan Kumar Jaiswal of the BJP won the seat by defeating RJD candidate Faisal Rahman with a margin of 10,114 votes. In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, BJP candidate Radha Mohan Singh won from the Purvi Champaran Lok Sabha seat with a margin of 88,287 votes by defeating Dr Rajesh Kumar of the Vikassheel Insaan Party.
Bihar Assembly Elections: Voter turnout in 2025 in Dhaka
The voter turnout in Dhaka constituency was 73.19 per cent.
Main Parties and Candidates in Dhaka
The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), the Janata Dal United (JDU), the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Jan Suraaj Party (JSP) and the Congress are the main parties in Dhaka.
Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Pawan Kumar Jaiswal, Rashtriya Janata Dal's (RJD) Faisal Rahman and Jan Suraaj Party's (JSP) Doctor LB Prasad are the main candidates in the Dhaka constituency of Bihar. The BJP is in alliance with the Janata Dal United (JDU), Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) and Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM), while the RJD has a pact with the Congress along with Left parties and Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) in Bihar.
Bihar Assembly Elections: What happened in Dhaka in 2020 and 2015?
In the 2020 Bihar Assembly Elections, BJP candidate Pawan Kumar Jaiswal won the seat with a margin of 10,114 votes (4.93%). He polled 99,792 votes with a vote share of 48.01%. Jaiswal defeated RJD candidate Faisal Rahman, who got 89,678 votes (43.15%). RLSP candidate Ram Pukar Sinha stood third with 10,932 votes (5.26%).
In the 2015 Bihar Assembly Elections, RJD candidate Faisal Rahman won the seat with a margin of 19,197 votes (10.45%). He polled 87,458 votes with a vote share of 46.97%. BJP candidate Pawan Kumar Jaiswal got 68,261 votes (36.66%) and was the runner-up. Independent candidate Ram Pukar Sinha stood third with 20,160 votes (10.83%).
Dhaka Assembly Constituency Past Winners
- 2020- Pawan Kumar Jaiswal (BJP)
- 2015- Faisal Rahman (RJD)
- 2010- Pawan Kumar Jaiswal (Independent)
- October, 2005- Awaneesh (BJP)
- February, 2005- Awaneesh (BJP)
- 2000- Manoj Kumar Singh (RJD)
- 1995- Awnish Kumar Singh (BJP)
- 1990- Awnish Kumar Singh (BJP)
- 1985- Motiur Rahman (Congress)
- 1980- Motiur Rahman (Congress)
- 1977- Siyaram Thakur (JNP)
- 1972- Hafiz Idris Ansari (Congress)
