The success in the Bihar bypolls had given the ruling Janata Dal (United) a much needed relief amid speculations on the longevity of the Nitish Kumar-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government. In both the seats of Bihar Legislative Assembly— Kusheshwarsthan and Tarapur, whose results were declared on Tuesday, the JD (U) has been able to retain its hold despite much louder campaigns by Lalu Yadav and Tejashwi Prasad Yadav-led Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD). In the Kusheshwarsthan assembly segment which falls under Samastipur Lok Sabha seat, the JD(U) candidate, Aman Bhushan Hajari defeated his nearest rival the RJD’s Ganesh Bharti by a margin of more than 12,000 votes while in the Tarapur assembly seat, JD(U)’s candidate Rajeev Kumar Singh won by a margin of 3,800 votes. In Kusheshwarsthan, Hajari got 59,887 while the RJD’s Ganesh Bharti polled 47,192 votes.
The by-polls were necessitated by the deaths of Mewalal Choudhary (Tarapur) and Shashi Bhushan Hazari (Kusheshwarsthan), who died during the second wave of Covid pandemic. Both were from the Nitish Kumar led JD (U). These byelections in Bihar became a high stake battle with the entry of both Bihar’s chief minister Nitish Kumar and RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav in the election campaign. Lalu was campaigning in the elections after six long years. In normal bypolls Nitish Kumar avoids campaigning. A day before counting the leader of opposition in the Bihar Legislative Assembly Tejashwi Prasad Yadav went to Darbhanga which is near the Kusheshwarsthan assembly segment to monitor the counting process. JD(U) had also deputed its top leaders in both the seats for the last three weeks. Many believed that if the results came out in the favour of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) then there would be a question mark on the longevity of the state government and the NDA alliance itself.
The RJD was hoping to win at least the Tarapur seat as it had given a ticket to a Baniya candidate who are considered the core voters of the BJP, hoping to split the core vote of the NDA, while retaining its own M-Y combination.
Talking to The Daily Guardian from Patna, JD(U) chief spokesperson and Member of Legislative Council (MLC), Neeraj Kumar said, “The voters of both the seats have given a tight electoral slap to the RJD and its leaders who were wrongly claiming that the 2020 polls were manipulated. The mandate also signals that the voters of Bihar want peace and development not the anarchy which the RJD showcased during its 15-year misrule under Lalu-Rabri Raj and now under Tejashwi Prasad Yadav. Our JD(U) organization will get stronger after the success in the byelections and now onwards we will work with more energy to fulfil the saat nischay (seven commitment) under Nitish kumar Ji’s leadership.”
After the verdict the elder son of Lalu Prasad Yadav, Tej Pratap Yadav blamed leaders like state RJD president Jagdanand Singh, Tejashwi Prasad Yadav’s political advisor Sanjay Yadav and party leader Sunil Singh, who all are considered close to the former deputy CM Tejashwi Prasad Yadav for the defeat.