Jokihat victory to imply JD(U) hold on Muslims

PATNA: Having lost Jehanabad bypoll to RJD recently, Nitish Kumar-led JD (U) is leaving no stone unturned to win the Jokihat assembly seat, where campaigning came to an end on Saturday for the byelection slated for Monday.

The counting of polled votes in Jokihat, which has 1.28 lakh men and 1.11 lakh women voters, will take place on Thursday.

Nine candidates, including six Independents, are in the fray, but the main contenders are RJD’s Shahnawaz Alam, JD (U)’s Murshid Alam and and Ghousul Azam of Jan Adhikar Party Loktantrik led by suspended RJD MP Pappu Yadav.

The win or loss of JD (U) in this constituency with 70% of voters being Muslims, will be an indicator of the Nitish’s hold on the people of this community. The other major segment of voters belongs to the Yadav community.

Since Nitish is heading the state’s NDA government, it is expected that the campaigning by BJP leaders will help attract non-Muslim voters towards JD (U). State ministers Nand Kishore Yadav and Mangal Pandey of BJP as well as party’s national spokesman Shahnawaz Hussain have stumped in the constituency. However, if the non-Muslim votes go to the Pappu’s candidate, JD (U) may find the pitch queered.

The assembly constituency is considered a stronghold of former RJD MP Mohd Taslimuddin whose death last year necessitated the bypoll in Araria parliamentary constituency in March this year. The then Jokihat JD (U) MLA Sarfaraz Alam, elder son of Taslimuddin, switched party and contested the Araria parliamentary election on RJD ticket.

The Jokihat constituency hit the headlines when it gave a lead of 80,000 votes to RJD nominee Alam in the Araria parliamentary bypoll, sealing his victory over BJP rival and former MP Pradip Kumar Singh by around 60,000 votes.

While electioneering in Jokihat, CM Nitish described it as “the traditional seat of the JD(U)”. Since 1967, Taslimuddin and Sarfaraz have represented it in the assembly. Sarfaraz Alam and Manzar Alam have done it for JD (U) on four occasions. And the RJD nominee for this bypoll is Murshid Alam, who is younger son of Taslimuddin.