Patna: After the Rashtriya Janata Dal wrested the Jokihat Assembly seat from the ruling JD-U in Bihar, a senior Janata Dal-United leader blamed rising prices of petrol and diesel for the drubbing.

A day after Shahnawaz Alam won the seat by over 41,000 votes, JD-U General Secretary K.C. Tyagi on Friday said: "Rising price of petrol and diesel mainly angered people that led to our defeat in Jokihat and NDA elsewhere" in the bypolls held on May 28.

Tyagi said the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Centre should take measures to control and check the price hike which is "directly impacting rural economy and common man".

He said the BJP "should go for more coordination and meetings with its allies before taking any decision". The JD-U is an ally of the BJP-led NDA at the Centre, besides operating an alliance in the state.

Another BJP ally Lok Janata Party also said that rising prices of petrol and diesel is bad sign and main cause behind growing anger among people.

LJP state president Pasupati Kumar Paras, who is also a minister in the Nitish Kumar cabinet, said the BJP should take spiralling price hike seriously.

Two months ago that RJD had defeated JD-U in bypolls to Jehanabad assembly seat and the Araria Lok Sabha seat.