The unexpected defeat of a veteran Congress leader, Prof. Arun Kumar, in the latest round of polls for the Bihar Legislative Council has come as a shock to both chief minister Nitish Kumar of the JD(U) and RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav as much as it shocked the Congress.
Prof. Kumar, a six-term MLC, was defeated by a JD(U) rebel contesting as an independent candidate in the Gaya Teachers’ constituency of Bihar’s upper House despite having secured the tacit support of both the chief minister and his arch rival. The JD(U) and the RJD had fielded no official candidate against Prof. Kumar. The ruling NDA, however, won three of the four Council seats that went under the polls on Sunday.
JD(U) rebel Sanjeev Shyam Singh, who was denied a party ticket and expelled from the party soon after filing his nomination papers as an independent candidate, managed to trounce the veteran Congress leader despite both the JD(U) and the RJD having a sizeable support base among the teachers in the constituency. Mr Singh secured 3,804 votes against Prof. Kumar’s 3,230 in a constituency of 11,687 voters, of which 8,278 cast their votes.
Four broad reasons are being attributed to the Congress veteran’s defeat. The JD(U)’s ally BJP and several senior JD(U) leaders reportedly extended full support to Singh. Young teachers appointed on contractual basis possibly expressed their displeasure against Nitish Kumar. Thirdly, a large section of the teaching fraternity did not see much value in Prof. Kumar’s getting elected for the seventh time, especially due to his advanced age of 80. Prof. Kumar took the polls for granted as a habitual winner.
An MLC for almost four decades, Prof. Kumar is known to have close personal relations with both Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad Yadav. His especially good relations with the chief minister had helped him remain the acting chairman of the Legislative Council for about four years after the incumbent, Jabir Hussain, became a RS member.
In the 2005 poll, Mr Singh, then contesting as an official JD(U) candidate, was defeated by Prof. Kumar in the same seat by a slender margin.