RJD, JD(U) script a comeback in Bihar bypolls - Livemint

Leaders from the three alliance parties have said the Bihar bypolls were a test case to assess the viability of taking their partnership to other states. Photo: PTI

Patna: Bihar’s rainbow alliance, comprising the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Janata Dal (United), or JD(U), and the Congress party, on Monday won in six of the 10 assembly seats for which bypolls were held last week, Rival Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won the remaining four.

The RJD won three seats, JD(U) won two and Congress one.

Polling for these 10 seats in Bihar and eight others constituencies elsewhere was held on 21 August and counting for all seats took place simultaneously.

Leaders from the three alliance parties have said the bypolls were a test case to assess the viability of taking their partnership to other states, including neighbouring Jharkhand, which go to the polls later this year.

In Thursday’s polling, Bihar recorded its lowest turnout at 46.42% compared with three constituencies in Karnataka at 72%, followed by Madhya Pradesh at 70% and Punjab at 66%.

Out of these 10 seats in Bihar, the BJP had the highest stake with six incumbents from the 2010 assembly elections, while Lalu Prasad -led RJD had three and Nitish Kumar-led JDU one. The two former chief ministers—socialist leaders and one-time rivals—joined hands in the run-up to the bypolls to counter the BJP’s electoral rise in the state.

In the just-concluded general elections, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) won 31 of the 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar.

For the three assembly seats in Karnataka, the Congress party won the Bellary seat by a margin of over 33,000 votes and was leading in Chikkodi-Sadalga, whereas the BJP took the Shikaripura seat.

On Monday, Prasad expressed happiness over the alliance and its success. Bihar RJD president Ram Chandra Purbey communicated Prasad’s reaction over bypoll results to reporters here as the RJD supremo is undergoing treatment at a Mumbai hospital.

“Alliance will continue in the coming assembly polls,” Purbey said on behalf of Lalu Prasad. “Our alliance experiment has been successful as voters have recognised the real character of the BJP. They have realised that BJP is not a political party but one which spreads religious hysteria and communalism in its efforts to grab power.”

Seeking to belittle BJP, Purbey pointed out that the margin of votes on four seats won by BJP is just around 35,200 votes while the combined margin of RJD, JD(U) and Congress alliance’s victory on six seats is over 1.35 lakh votes.

“The alliance is nascent, but has begun on a successful note. It will continue not only in the 2015 Bihar assembly elections, but will also expand on a national level. It is an alliance on the basis of the aspirations and wishes of the public,” said Purbey.

Congress also regaled in glory of victory.

Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee (BPCC) president Ashok Chaudhary thanked the voters for “trouncing Narendra Modi and Amit Shah style of politics” in the state.

“The bypoll results is a big victory for the secular line of politics. The voters have completely defeated the Narendra Modi and Amit Shah style of politics which breeds on communalism and hatred. Our candidate won in Bhagalpur, which is known as BJP bastion since 1990,” said Chaudhary in a statement.

He said a better selection candidate could have helped alliance to win one or two more seats out of the 10. BPCC vice-president and media in-charge Premchand Mishra said the results indicated falling graph of BJP in the state.