This story is from March 15, 2018

RJD retains Araria and Jehanabad seats, BJP keeps Bhabhua

RJD retains Araria and Jehanabad seats, BJP keeps Bhabhua
PATNA: The Nitish Kumar-BJP combine failed to defeat the RJD despite its chief Lalu Prasad being behind bars in the fodder scam cases and many in his family facing corruption charges. This was the first electoral battle in the state since chief minister Nitish Kumar parted ways with the Grand Alliance of RJD and Congress and formed government with the BJP-led NDA in July last year.

RJD retained both its Araria parliamentary and Jehanabad assembly seats while BJP returned triumphant in Bhabhua assembly constituency.
The byelection in Araria was necessitated following the death of sitting MP Md Taslimuddin. Jehanabad and Bhabhua assembly seats fell vacant following the death of Mundrika Prasad Yadav (RJD) and Anand Bhushan Pandey (BJP), respectively.
Though Taslimuddin’s son Sarfaraz Alam, who was a JD(U) MLA from Jokihat before contesting the byelection from Araria on RJD ticket, managed to get more votes than his father, but the margin of victory dropped from 1,46,504 in 2014 to 61,788 this time. Taslimuddin had got 4,07,978 votes despite ‘Modi wave’ in 2014, Sarfaraz secured 5,09,334 votes.
Sarfaraz defeated Pradeep Kumar Singh (BJP), who had won the seat in 2009. However, Pradeep’s votes increased from 2,61,474 in 2014 to 4,47,546 this time. The voter turnout this time was 57% compared to 60% in 2014 Lok Sabha election.
But the RJD’s victory margin in Jehanabad increased by 4,715 votes as its candidate Kumar Krishna Mohan aka Suday Yadav retained his father’s seat by defeating Abhiram Sharma of JD(U).

Incidentally, JD(U) was requested by the BJP to contest from Jehanabad after RLSP, led by Union minister Upendra Kushwaha, and HAM(S) led by former CM Jitan Ram Manjhi had staked their claims over the seat. Manjhi, later, quit NDA and joined the RJD-led Grand Alliance before the byelection.
BJP’s Rinky Rani Pandey retained the Bhabhua assembly seat her husband Anand Bhushan Pandey represented before his death. She defeated Shambhu Singh Patel of Congress by 15,490 votes. Rinki’s husband had won the seat by defeating Pramod Kumar Singh of JD(U) by 7,744 votes in 2015 assembly election.
Meanwhile, Lalu termed the bypoll results as “victory of truth over falsehood”. “The more you pour the fuel of conspiracy on Lalu, the brighter will his lantern burn. Millions of salutations to the people of Bihar for upholding justice. This is a victory of truth over falsehood,” Lalu tweeted in Hindi.
Leader of opposition in Bihar assembly and Lalu’s younger son Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, who emerged as the ‘real winner’, termed the results as the victory of “Lalu’s ideology”.
Tejashwi tweeted, “'You have not captured ‘Lalu’ but an ideology. This very ideology will destroy your arrogance. We put forth our argument with utmost humility in the court.”
NDA, on the other hand, maintained that the bypolls sort of maintained status quo on the three seats. “There was a sympathy wave. Nonetheless, if there was a Lalu factor, why it didn’t work in Bhabhua?” asked deputy CM and senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi in a tweet.
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