Bihar by-election: Boost for Nitish Kumar's JD(U) as RJD fails to snatch Tarapur in close fight

While the JD(U) candidate from Kusheshwar Asthan was able to win the seat with a comfortable margin, the Tarapur Assembly constituency witnessed a seesaw contest.

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal (United) has been able to retain both Assembly seats that went to bypolls after the demise of its sitting MLAs. While the JD(U) candidate from Kusheshwar Asthan was able to win the seat with a comfortable margin, the Tarapur Assembly constituency witnessed a seesaw contest between JD(U) and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), the principal Opposition in Bihar Legislative Assembly.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar speaks to the media after leaving for the State Assembly by-election campaign, in Patna. (ANI / File)

JD(U) had fielded Aman Bhushan Hajari from Kusheshwar Asthan after the seat fell vacant following the demise of his father, Shashi Bhushan Hajari. JD(U) was able to retain the Kusheshwar Asthan assembly constituency with over a 12,695 vote margin against rival RJD's Ganesh Bharti. JD(U)'s vote share in Kusheshwar Asthan is 45.72%, while RJD's vote share stands at 36.02%.

Congress ended at 4th position with 5,602 votes and a dismal 4.28% vote share.

In Tarapur, the RJD gave a scare to JD(U) as it led the trends up to 18 rounds of counting, only to give back a decisive lead after 24 rounds. JD(U)'s Rajeev Kumar Singh won the Tarapur Assembly seat by 3,852 votes over his nearest rival Arun Kumar, who was fighting from RJD's ticket. JD(U) received 46.62% of the total votes polled while RJD got 44.35% vote share.

Congress performance in Tarapur was worse than Kusheshwar Asthan as it was able to receive just 2.12% of the total votes polled, 0.70% more vote share than NOTA.

The overall vote share of JD(U) and RJD in the bypolls stands at 46.22% and 40.72% respectively. Congress' overall vote share (3.06%) is less than that of the Lok Jan Shakti Party (Ram Vilas) which received 3.65% of the total votes polled in the Bihar by-elections.

RJD supremo Lalu Prasad's return to the poll campaign after years was seen as a huge boost for the party, which prompted the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) to run an intense campaign. Nitish Kumar, state ministers and other alliance leaders held several public meetings in Kusheshwar Asthan as well as Tarapur Assembly constituency to retain the seats.