Bihar Bypolls To Test New Friendship Since Mahagathbandhan Break-Up

Patna:  The bypoll in Bihar's Araria Lok Sabha seat, to be held tomorrow, will test Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal (United) and the BJP's coming together ahead of the national election next year. The opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Congress combine, of the erstwhile Mahagathbandhan that broke after the JD(U) opted out of it, will also be assessed in the by-election.

Bypolls will also be held for Bhabhua and Jehanabad assembly segments tomorrow. The by-elections will be the first big political battle since Mr Kumar dissolved his grand alliance and partnered with the BJP last year.

For the bypoll in Araria, which was necessitated following the death of Mohd Taslimuddin of the RJD, seven candidates are in the fray. However, the contest is mainly seen between Sarafaraz Alam, Taslimuddin's son, and the BJP's Pradip Singh who had won the seat in 2009 and finished runner-up in 2014. At that time, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's JD(U) had fought separately and finished third.

"I am confident of victory this time. My defeat in 2014 was not a result of Taslimuddin's popularity. We suffered as votes of the Mahadalits and the Extremely Backward Classes (EBCs) had split between the BJP and the JD(U)," Mr Singh said.

The Bhabua assembly seat was vacated after the death of the BJP's Anand Bhushan Pandey. The ruling alliance has fielded his wife Rinki Rani Pandey and hopes to win the seat back. Dalits are a major chunk of the voters in Bhabhua.

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The Jehanabad assembly seat was held by the RJD's Mundrika Prasad Yadav, but the JD(U)-BJP had won it when they were partners earlier and hope that their coming together again will help them get back the seat.

Results will be announced on Wednesday.