Bihar Bye-Election Results 2018 LIVE UPDATES: Araria Lok Sabha seat saw a turnout of 57 per cent in the bypolls on Sunday.
The bye-election results to the Araria Lok Sabha constituency in Bihar will be declared on Wednesday. Araria went to polling on Sunday (March 11) along with two Assembly seats of Jehanabad and Bhabua.
While Araria Lok Sabha seat saw a turnout of 57 per cent, Jehanabad and Bhabua recorded 50.6 per cent and 54.3 per cent turnout, respectively. Bihar Chief Electoral Officer Ajay V Naik said polling was held peacefully in the three seats.
Araria Lok Sabha constituency comprises Assembly segments of Narpatganj, Sikti, Jokihat, Forbesganj, Raniganj and Araria. The bye-election to the Araria seat was necessitated after the death of sitting RJD lawmaker Mohd Taslimuddin. The contest is mainly between RJDs Sarafaraz Alam, Taslimuddin’s son, and BJPs Pradip Singh, who had won the seat in 2009 and finished runners-up in 2014.
The bye-poll in Araria is being viewed as a test for the ruling JD(U)-BJP combine as well as the opposition RJD-Congress alliance, ahead of the big battle in the general elections due next year.
RELATED READ | Araria will be ISI den if RJD wins: Bihar BJP chief Nityanand Rai
In Jehanabad, the RJD hopes to retain the Assembly seat that fell vacant after the death of Mundrika Yadav. The party gave ticket to Yadav’s son Kumar Krishna Mohan. On the other hand, the BJP is hopeful of retaining the Bhabhua Assembly seat riding on a sympathy wave for Anand Bhushan Pandey whose death at the age of 48 necessitated the bye-election. The saffron party fielded Pandey’s wife Rinky Rani.
Counting for Araria Lok Sabha bypolls to begin at 8 am, visuals of preparation from a counting centre. (Source: ANI photo)
During the bye-election campaign for the Araria Lok Sabha seat, Bihar BJP chief and Ujiyarpur MP Nityanand Rai made a provocative speech saying if RJD candidate Sarfaraz Alam won, Araria would become a “den of the ISI”. A case was filed against Rai for the statement. Narpatganj Police Station in-charge Sunil Singh had confirmed the case against him for violation of code of conduct. Here is the complaint letter.
In a clear message to Muslims, Nitish Kumar in his speech in Raniganj had said, “No section of society is being discriminated against under this regime.” “The amount of development work done for minorities during NDA rule is unmatched… You have to choose between performers and non-performers. They will try to make you fight and take away your votes.”
Before the polling, the BJP had already suffered a setback with its MP Sukhdev Paswan joining the RJD. The RJD has brought in former CM Jitan Ram Manjhi to campaign among SC Rishidev voters while the NDA has engaged both its Rishidev ministers, Krishna Kumar Rishidev and Ramji Rishidev.
In 2014, Pradeep Singh had polled 2.61 lakh votes and the JD(U) candidate 2.22 lakh, the total exceeding winner Taslimuddin’s 4.08 lakh votes. BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi, the Deputy CM had said, “We lost in 2014 because the BJP and the JD(U) fought separately but if one combines the BJP and JD(U) votes, we are 70,000-plus votes ahead. Now, the RJD cannot do anything against the combined strength of Nitish Kumar.”
During the previous NDA regimes Nitish headed, the BJP won Araria in both 2004 and 2009. In 2014, by when Nitish had broken away from the NDA, Taslimuddin wrested the seat, part of the Muslim-dominated Seemanchal region. In an election dominated by the projection of Narendra Modi as Prime Minister, Seemanchal went against the nationwide trend, with the BJP failing to win any of the four seats after having held three.
The bye-elections to Araria, Jehanabad and Bhabhua Assembly seats in Bihar is the first major test for Chief Minister Nitish Kumar since walking out of the Grand Alliance last year. The key challenge for NDA will be to wrest Araria Lok Sabha seat from RJD, whose candidate Mohammed Taslimuddin defeated BJP’s sitting MP Pradeep Kumar Singh in 2014.
Araria went to polling on March 11 along with two Assembly seats of Jehanabad and Bhabua. The counting of votes will begin shortly. Follow our live blog for latest updates.
(With inputs from ENS and agencies)