Nagarmal Bajoria Dies At 96: Contested 280+ Elections, Faced Indira Gandhi And Rajiv Gandhi

Nagarmal Bajoria, a veteran election contestant and social worker from Bihar’s Bhagalpur, died at the age of 96 on Thursday. Popularly known as Dhartipakad, Bajoria was a resident of Sujaganj Main Market. His cremation will take place at Barari Ghat on Friday.

Bajoria’s extraordinary electoral journey spanned decades and saw him contest elections at various levels, from panchayat polls to the presidential election. He contested a total of 281 elections, with his last electoral battle coming in 2019.

Despite contesting hundreds of elections, Bajoria never won a single one. He was known for his distinctive take on his electoral record: “I do not lose elections, but the people always do.”

Battles against political heavyweights

Over the course of his long political journey, Bajoria took on several of the country’s most prominent political figures. His first electoral contest came in 1969, when he filed his nomination against then-presidential candidate V V Giri. He later contested against former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in Rae Bareli and former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in Amethi.

Bajoria also crossed paths with other political heavyweights at the ballot box, including former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and BJP veteran L K Advani. He went on to contest the presidential and vice-presidential elections 18 times, with his 281st and final electoral contest taking place in 2019.

From Lahore to Bhagalpur

Born in Lahore in undivided India, Bajoria migrated to Bhagalpur in the 1930s and established a business in the city’s main market. Alongside his electoral pursuits, he was actively involved in social work.

Commitment to social work

He organised mass marriages for poor girls, promoting simple weddings without dowry, and helped facilitate the installation of tube wells in areas where access to drinking water was needed.