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Patna: Twenty-five-year-old folk singer Maithili Thakur, BJP’s contender from the Alinagar constituency, is all set to become the youngest MLA in the state.

As per the latest trends at 3:00 pm, Thakur has taken a massive lead by 51879  votes over her opponent, RJD’s Binod Mishra. If she wins, it will also be the first time the BJP has taken the Alinagar seat in Darbhanga.

The ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has taken a massive lead over the Mahagathabandhan in 188 seats, with the BJP emerging as the single largest party, leading in 93 seats.

Alongside Thakur, several other 25-year-olds are also contesting this election, including Sonu Kumar from Goh, Naveen Kumar and Amrita Soni from Batnaha, Kundan Kumar from Sheikhpura, Shambhu Babu from Supaul and Rajkumar Sada from Simri Bakhtiarpur. Despite these young contestants, the average age of candidates in the two-phased Bihar election is about 51 years.

Previously, Tauseef Alam, 26, was the state’s youngest MLA, followed by RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav, who was elected from Raghopur at 26 years old in 2015.

Maithili comes from Benipatti in the neighbouring Madhubani district. She is trained in Indian classical and devotional music and first became widely known after appearing on the reality show ‘Rising Star’. Her folk, classical and devotional performances, sung in as many as twelve languages, have earned her national and international recognition.

If voted to power, Maithili has promised several measures for her constituency and young people. She wants to introduce Mithila painting as an extra-curricular activity in schools, rename Alinagar as Sitanagar, improve education especially for girls, and work to create jobs for unemployed youth.

Alinagar to Sitanagar if I win: Maithili

Maithili has repeatedly said she will change the name of Alinagar to Sitanagar if she wins.

While early trends showed her in the lead, speaking to India Today, she reiterated her promise and said the name change would be certain after victory.

Alinagar, which falls in the Darbhanga area and has a mixed population of upper-caste Brahmins, a sizable Muslim community, Yadavs, and extremely backward classes such as Mallahs and Paswans.

The seat has been a Mahagathbandhan stronghold since 2008, with RJD’s Abdul Bari Siddiqui winning in 2010 and 2015, and VIP’s Mishri Lal Yadav winning in 2020.

During this election, the BJP dropped Mishri Lal Yadav after Binod Mishra was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment in a 2019 criminal case by the MP-MLA court in Darbhanga. Mishri Lal Yadav later resigned from the BJP.