Bihar’s ruling JD(U)-BJP alliance on Monday retained the Daraunda Assembly seat as voters preferred the newly-married wife of a former MLA’s son, who was denied a party ticket for the criminal cases pending against him, to candidates of the Opposition RJD-LJP alliance and the Congress.
Kavita Singh of the JD(U), daughter-in-law of deceased party MLA Jagmato Devi, won by a margin of 20,092 votes, beating her nearest rival Parmeshwar Singh of the Rashtriya Janata Dal, who had the LJP support, in this multi-polar contest having nine candidates in the fray.
Ms Singh polled 51,754 votes while the RJD candidate got 31,662 votes despite the support of party strongmen like jailed former MP Mohammed Shahabuddin and Prabhunath Singh.
The JD(U), unwilling to give party ticket to Jagmato Devi’s son Ajay Singh for the criminal cases pending against him, fielded Kavita Kumari, who Singh married just days before nominations were filed, despite the season being considered inauspicious for Hindu weddings. The JD(U) candidate had the BJP’s support.
The Congress, despite campaigns by AICC secretary Sanjay Nirupam and former Union minister Shakeel Ahmad, among others, had no luck as its candidate Dr Kalika Sharan Singh stood third by polling only 4,238 votes. The CPI(M-L)’s Jainath Yadav stood fourth with just 3,754 votes.
Polling in this constituency in the western Siwan district having about 2.26 lakh eligible voters had taken place on October 13, with 44 per cent votes cast.
Chief minister Nitish Kumar said the bypoll win proved that the people had “strong faith the good governance” of the NDA government he heads.
RJD Rajya Sabha member Ram Kripal Yadav said the fact that the party’s vote share grew in this constituency indicated that voters responded to the RJD’s campaigns against the state government. Both Kumar and RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav had actively campaigned for their candidates.