New Delhi: The ruling NDA in Bihar managed to retain a stronghold in the legislative council elections on Thursday as it bagged more than half of the 24 seats for which by-polls were held, reported news agency PTI.
The by-elections for the Legislative Council were held one year behind the schedule due to the delay in Panchayat polls which were running late due to the pandemic despite the terms of two dozen seats having expired last year.
BJP won seven seats out of the 12 it contested. However, it lost the Saran seat which was won by Sachchidanand Rai who broke away from the BJP and contested as an independent after being denied a ticket from his prior seat.
Lalu Prasad's RJD also improved its tally by four as it grabbed six seats, though it had contested 23, the highest number for any party. However, what is noteworthy is the rebel independents managed to secure four seats.
Though RJD also faced similar challenges as BJP as it lost to rebel Independents in Madhubani (Ambika Gulab Yadav) and Nawada (Ashok Yadav).
Meanwhile, Congress supported Independent candidate Maheshwar Singh in East Champaran won. Though the party’s own tally declined as only one of its candidates Rajiv Singh from Begusarai won the local polls.
Meanwhile, JD(U) won five constituencies which is three seats lower than the number it held earlier. However, the seats won by JD(U) are of significance as CM Nitish Kumar’s home turf Nalanda was won by Reena Yadav.
JD(U) also registered victories in Muzaffarpur by Dinesh Singh and Radhacharan Seth in Bhojpur.
Meanwhile, Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party, the faction of late Ram Vilas Paswan's party headed by his rebellious brother Pashupati Kumar Paras, won Vaishali where Bhushan Rai defeated his nearest RJD rival.
Despite begging less number of seats, what can be a matter of celebration for RJD is their win in NDA bastions like Patna and Munger.
However, an RJD delegation led by chief spokesperson Bhai Virendra called on Chief Electoral Officer to complain about irregularities in counting of votes in the Saharsa-Madhepura-Supaul seat.
Meanwhile, RJD de facto leader Tejashwi Yadav's gamble to field a large number of upper caste candidates and shed the MY (Muslim-Yadav) label inherited from his father seemed to have paid off to some extent.
Four of the party's victorious candidates are from the numerically small but socially and politically influential group. More importantly, three of the RJD winners are Bhumihars, the caste said to be most hostile towards Lalu Prasad and his party. With its current show, the RJD now has enough numbers in the 75-strong legislative council for its leader Rabri Devi to retain the post of the leader of the opposition.