JOIN USLotus blooms in Bihar bypoll as JD(U) nominee fails
Proving a large section of political pandits and electoral math wrong, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won the Kurhani Assembly bypoll in Bihar on Thursday.
In a straight contest between the BJP and Janata Dal (United), the BJP nominee Kedar Gupta defeated Nitish's candidate Manoj Kushwaha by 3,649 votes. While Gupta polled 76,722 votes, the JD(U) candidate got 73,073 votes.
The BJP victory is significant as this was its first direct fight with the JD(U), its erstwhile ally, after Bihar CM Nitish Kumar dumped the NDA in August.
One versus seven
The BJP win is also important as it was pitted against the combined might of the seven parties comprising the Mahagatbandhan (also called Grand Alliance). These are the JD (U), RJD, Congress, CPI, CPI(M), CPI-ML and Jitan Ram Manjhi's HAM (Hindustan Awam Morcha).
The bypoll in Kurhani was necessitated after the Bihar Assembly Speaker Awadh Bihar Choudhary disqualified RJD MLA Anil Sahni on October 13 following his conviction in the LTA bungling case, where the latter reportedly submitted fake documents related to travelling and lodging when he was a JD(U) Rajya Sabha member.
Since the RJD, an ally of Nitish, had earlier contested the two bypoll elections held in October (and won one), this time the JD(U) staked its claim for the Kurhani Assembly seat (although it was the RJD MLA who was disqualified and, therefore, the RJD should have made its rightful claim of contesting the seat).
During the 2020 Assembly election, the RJD's Anil Sahni (now disqualified) won from Kurhani, defeating BJP's Kedar Gupta by a wafer-thin margin of 712 votes. Gupta avenged his defeat on Thursday.
"The message of the voters is loud and clear. They no more vote merely on caste lines. Growth and development are major issues the ruling partners have been ignoring. Merely construction of roads and bridges is not development. Social development is equally important. Voters have shown that good governance (which was the trademark of Nitish) is somewhat missing. It's high time for the Bihar rulers to introspect," political commentator Prof NK Choudhary said.
In the two bypolls in October, the BJP defeated the RJD to win the Gopalganj seat. BJP's Rajya Sabha MP Sushil Modi said the two results proved the people have shown no confidence in Nitish Kumar's leadership and disapproved of his decision to dump the NDA and join hands with the RJD-led Mahagathbandhan. "It is high time Nitish quit as the CM as he has betrayed the voters and their mandate in 2020 in NDA's favour," Modi said.
(Abhay Kumar is a Patna-based senior journalist)