Council polls: NDA stays ahead, but BJP tally down; RJD gets a boost

The ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in Bihar on Thursday won 13 of the 24 Legislative Council seats which went to vote on April 4 while main opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) won six and Congress two. Three seats have gone to Independents.

The ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in Bihar on Thursday won 13 of the 24 Legislative Council seats which went to vote on April 4 while main opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) won six and Congress two. Three seats have gone to Independents.

Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party members celebrate NDA’s victory in Bihar Legislative Council elections in Patna on Thursday. (Santosh Kumar/HT Photo)

Within the NDA, BJP has won eight seats, ally Janata Dal-United four while one seat has gone to Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party( RLJP) headed by union minister Pashupati Kumar Paras.

BJP had contested 12 seats, JD-U 11 and RLJP one.

RJD managed to trounce NDA candidates in Patna and Munger seats, considered stronghold of BJP and JD-U, but lost in several north Bihar constituencies and south Bihar. RJD had contested 23 out of the 24 seats and left one for CPI.

Three Independent who won are Sachidanand Rai from Saran, Ashok Yadav (Nawada) and Ambika Gulab Yadav (Madhubani). Rai had contested independently after being denied a ticket from the BJP while both Ashok Yadav and Ambika Yadav, wife of former RJD leader Gulab Rai, had contested independently after being denied ticket by RJD.

The electorate for these 24 seats, all from local area constituencies, comprised elected representatives from panchayati raj institutions ( PRIs) and urban local bodies. The election was conducted through ballot papers.

Compared to the 2015 election for these seats, BJP has lost three seats while ally JD-U has lost one.

For RJD, the tally has increased by two seats. In 2015, it had won four seats but three of its MLCs had switched to JD-U later.

Congress too has gained one additional seat this time. Its candidate won in Begusarai and while the candidate backed by the party won from Motihari.

RJD’s performance will help it reclaim the status of leader of the opposition in the Legislative Council, which it had lost after its tally had come down to five in 2020 following defections of MLCs. A party requires eight MLCs to gain status of leader of opposition in the 75-member House. Former chief minister Rabri Devi is likely to be appointed as leader of the opposition in the house of elders, said party leaders.

In his first reaction, BJP’s state president Sanjay Jaiswal said, “We have repeated our performance of the last time. But yes, we will try to improve more.”

JD-U MLC and spokesperson Neeraj Kumar said his party’s performance was quite good and mocked RJD for making claims of winning more than 15 seats. “Of course, RJD’s nominee can get the status of leader of the opposition in the Upper House. But it would be good if Tejashwi Yadav makes a sincere party worker as LOP instead of somebody from the family,” he said.

RJD’s state spokesperson Mritunjay Tiwary called his party’s performance satisfactory and hailed the leadership Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, who is also leader of opposition in the state assembly. “RJD has increased its tally from one seat to five seats and we wrested seats from BJP and JD-U. Tejashwi campaigned hard,” he said.

Meanwhile, Congress’s state spokesperson Harku Jha said victory in two seats was a big boost for the party. “Had all secular forces contested unitedly, we would have easily defeated a majority of NDA candidates,” he said, hinting at how seat sharing arrangement with RJD did not work out for Council polls.

Congress had fielded 16 candidates.

Currently, there are 51 members in the Legislative Council — BJP (14) JD-U (23), RJD (5) , Congress (3), CPI (2), HAM-S (1), VIP (1) and Independent (1).