Maithili Thakur becomes Bihar's youngest MLA: A look at past young winners

Alinagar Assembly election result: Maithili Thakur's transition from celebrated folk singer to political contender underscored the BJP's strategy to connect with young voters in Mithilanchal

Folk singer Maithili Thakur on Friday created history by becoming the youngest MLA in the state's history when she won from the Alinagar constituency. At just 25, Thakur — a celebrated Maithili and Bhojpuri singer — joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) only in October and was fielded as a candidate.

 

After 25 rounds of counting, Thakur crossed the finish line with 84,915 votes, defeating the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD)’s Binod Mishra by a margin of 11,730 votes.

 

 

Maithili Thakur's transition to politics

Her transition from celebrated folk singer to political contender underscored the BJP’s strategy to connect with young voters in Mithilanchal. Trained in Hindustani classical music by her father, Thakur has spent years mastering Maithili, Bhojpuri, and Hindi folk traditions, often performing alongside her brothers.

 

With millions of followers across YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook, she enjoys broad, cross-community appeal, which the BJP was able to capitalise on in Alinagar. Her sustained popularity and strong digital presence have given her a distinct advantage in the contest. 

Bihar elections: Youngest MLAs to date

Tauseef Alam became Bihar’s youngest MLA when he was first elected in February 2005 from the Bahadurganj constituency as an independent candidate at the age of 26. However, the President's rule was imposed in the state soon after. Later that year, he contested again on a Congress ticket and retained his seat till 2020. This year, he is contesting on an All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) ticket, trying to reclaim the seat.

 

Shreyasi Singh, representing the BJP, became Bihar’s youngest woman MLA at the age of 30 when she won the Jamui constituency in the 2020 Assembly elections. She is contesting from the same seat again this year. 

 

Besides Maithili Thakur, other young candidates in this year's elections included Janata Dal (United) candidate Ravina Kushwaha (27) from Bibhutipur, RJD’s Shiwani Shukla (28) from Lalganj, Congress' Navin Kumar (25) from Bathnaha, Deepu Singh (28) from Sandesh, and Ravi Ranjan (29) from Ashthawan.