Bihar by-polls: AIMIM’s Qamrul Hoda leads in Kishanganj

The BJP had fielded Sweety Singh from minority-dominated Kishanganj, where the party has not been very successful in the assembly segment in the past. The segment was once represented by her husband and local BJP veteran Sikander Singh.

All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen’s candidate Qamrul Hoda was on Thursday leading in Bihar’s Kishanganj assembly seat, where by-polls were held on Monday.

AIMIM’s Qamrul Hoda has taken a lead in Bihar’s Kishanganj assembly seat, where by-polls were held on Monday. (Twitter @aimim_national)

AIMIM’s Qamrul Hoda has taken a lead at 12:50pm by a margin of 19,855 votes against the BJP’s Sweety Singh Kishanganj, where the Asaduddin Owaisi-led party has made it a triangular contest against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress.

The BJP had fielded Sweety Singh from minority-dominated Kishanganj, where the party has not been very successful in the assembly segment in the past. The segment was once represented by her husband and local BJP veteran Sikander Singh.

Here, the Congress placed its bets on Jawaid’s mother Sayeeda Bano, who contested her first election at the age of 72 years this year.

Votes are also being counted in four other assembly seats in Bihar and one parliamentary constituency in the by-polls, billed as the semi-finals as they were held just ahead of the state elections in 2020.

By-polls were held to the Samastipur Lok Sabha seat and the Kishanganj, Belhar, Nathnagar, Simri Bakhtiyarpur and Daraundha assembly constituencies.

The by-polls held on Monday saw a fierce electoral battle of survival by the grand opposition alliance, mainly comprising of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Congress, against the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the eastern state.

The Janata Dal(United), BJP and the Lok Janshakti Party are the ruling alliance members.

The by-elections were held after the death of one member and the election of five others to the Lok Sabha.

The NDA currently holds the Samastipur Lok Sabha seat and four assembly segments barring Kishanganj, which was won by the Congress in the state elections in 2015.

The Samastipur Lok Sabha seat fell vacant after the death of member of Parliament from the LJP Ram Chandra Paswan, the younger brother of party founder and Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan.

Four of the five assembly seats - Nathnagar, Belhar, Simri Bakhtiarpur and Daraundha - were vacated after JD(U) MLAs were elected to the Lok Sabha. Congress’ Mohammad Jawaid vacated the Kishanganj assembly seat after winning the Kishanganj Lok Sabha seat - the only one won by the Grand Alliance.

There were four candidates each from the JD(U) and the RJD and one each from the BJP and the LJP. The CPI had put up three candidates while the Congress fielded two nominees.

Some 24 independent candidates also contested the elections.