The result of the bypolls to one Lok Sabha and five Assembly seats in Bihar have come as a disappointment to the ruling BJP-JD(U)-LJP coalition in the state. Four out of five Assembly seats were held by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) but the ruling alliance managed to retain just one seat.
- Belhar: RJD’s Ramdeo Yadav defeated JD(U)’s Girdhari Yadav
- Daruandha: JD(U)’s Ajay Kumar Singh lost to Karnjeet Singh, a BJP rebel contesting as an Independent
- Simri Bakhtiarpur: RJD’s Zafar Alam defeated JD(U)’s Dr Arun Kumar
- Nathnagar: JD(U)’s Lakshmikant Mandal triumphed over RJD’s Rabiya Khatun
The only consolation for the ruling alliance is that the Lok Janashakti Party candidate Prince Raj’s won in the bypoll for the Samastipur Lok Sabha seat by a margin of over one lakh votes. The bypoll was necessitated by the death of MP Ramchandra Paswan, brother of Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan. Prince Raj is the son of the late LJP leader.
The lukewarm performance should come as a warning sign for Chief Minister Nitish Kumar as the results do reflect discontent with his government, especially after the floods.
AIMIM Opens Its Account
The other significant development is the victory of Asaduddin Owaisi’s All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen in the bypoll to the Kishanganj Assembly constituency. AIMIM candidate Qamrul Hoda defeated his BJP rival Sweety Singh by a margin of over 10,000 votes.
The bypoll was necessitated after Congress MLA Mohammad Jawed resigned after being elected to the Lok Sabha. But the Congress candidate Sayeeda Banu came a poor third, getting less than 15 percent of the votes and losing her deposit.
Qamrul Hoda’s victory is the AIMIM’s first legislative victory in the Hindi heartland. Till now, the party has won only in Telangana and Maharashtra.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)