Bihar Bye-Election Results 2018 LIVE UPDATES: Araria Lok Sabha seat saw a turnout of 57 per cent in the bypolls on Sunday.
The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) is leading on Araria Lok Sabha and Jehanabad seats while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is ahead in Bhabua. Counting of votes for the three seats in Bihar began amid tight security around 8 am today. Araria went to polling on Sunday (March 11) along with two Assembly seats of Jehanabad and Bhabua. The bye-election results to the Araria Lok Sabha constituency will be declared today.
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. 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. It is the first major test for Chief Minister Nitish Kumar since he walked-out of the Grand Alliance last year.
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.
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.
There were reports of police resorting to mild use of force outside the counting centre in Jehanabad as young RJD supporters indulged in boisterous jubilations over the news of their candidate Suday Yadav establishing an unassailable lead over former MLA and JD(U) nominee Abhiram Sharma.
Till 2:30, the RJD established leads in Araria Lok Sabha seat and Jehanabad Assembly constituency while the BJP was leading in Bhabhua Assembly seat in bypolls in Bihar. According to election office sources, a total of 28 rounds of counting will take place for results of Araria Lok Sabha seat bypoll necessitated due to demise of RJD MP Mohammad Taslimuddin.
Now, the RJD is leading by 23,187 with 3,33,050 votes, BJP trailing with 3,09,863 votes. While, the BJP leading in Bhabua with 40,501 votes and the RJD leading in Jehanabad with 52,609 votes.
After 11th round of counting, the BJP is ahead by over 6,400 votes in Bhabua and RJD is ahead by 19,400 votes in Jehanabad.
RJD has again taken lead by 16,000 votes in Araria. Around 4,000 people opted for NOTA.
The BJP was leading in the Araria Lok Sabha seat and Bhabua Assembly constituency, while its ally, the ruling JD(U) in the state, was trailing behind the RJD candidate in the Jehanabad Assembly seat after three hours of counting for the by-elections in Bihar.
People have spoken against the anti-farmer, anti-youth and anti-women policies of the govt, it is very clear that BJP is being shown the door by the people: Jyotiraditya Scindia, Congress, on UP and Bihar Lok Sabha bypolls.
BJP leading in Bhabua with 23,640 votes. RJD leading in Jehanabad with 32,554 votes.
After fifth round of counting, BJP again leading in Araria by 5, 500 votes.
The Rashtriya Janata Dal is again leading in Araria by 1,379 votes after the third round of counting.
So, now, the BJP is leading by over 3,200 votes in Bhabua and by 5,500 votes in Araria. Stay tuned
In Bhabua, BJP candidate Rinki Rani Pandey leading by 2, 714 votes. While RJD candidate is leading by over 15,000 votes in Jehanabad Assembly bypoll where RJD candidate Kumar Krishna Mohan a.k.a Suday Yadav contested against JD (U)'s Abhiram Sharma.
In Araria, BJP candidate Pradeep Kumar Singh is leading with 58,225 votes against RJD candidate Sarfaraz Alam. Alam has gained 55,334 votes till now.
After third round of counting, NDA takes lead on Araria Lok Sabha and Bhabua seats, RJD takes lead in Jehanabad.
Meanwhile, after the third round of counting in Phulpur, Samajwadi Party's Nagendra Pratap Singh Patel is leading by 1,437 votes. He has secured 7,600 votes, while BJP's Kaushlendra Singh Patel has got 6,163 votes.
As of now, the Rashtriya Janata Dal is leading in Araria and Jehanabad. And the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is ahead in Bhabua.
EVMs opened at a counting centre in Bihar's Araria as counting of votes continues. (Source: ANI photo)
Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi on Tuesday in a tweet said that people will again teach a lesson to those disrupting the politics of development.
Meanwhile, the results for the bye-elections to Gorakhpur and Phulpur Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh will also be out today. The Gorakhpur and Phulpur bye-elections are being viewed as a prestige battle for the BJP as it won both the seats by a big margin in the 2014 Lok Sabha election.The voter turnout was 47.45 per cent in Gorakhpur and 37.39 per cent in Phulpur in Sunday’s polling. The bypolls were necessitated after Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya vacated the Gorakhpur and Phulpur Lok Sabha seats respectively following their election to the state legislative council. Follow UP Bye-Election Results 2018 LIVE updates
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)