Bihar: EC announces Kurhani bypoll on December 5

PATNA: The byelection to the Kurhani assembly seat in Muzaffarpur district will be held on December 5, the Election Commission (EC) announced on Saturday. The counting of votes will take place on December 8.
As per the EC announcement, the poll notification will be issued on November 10. Overall, the bypolls will be held in one Lok Sabha and five assembly constituencies in five states, including Kurhani in Bihar.
The Kurhani seat fell vacant as Bihar assembly Speaker Awadh Bihari Choudhary disqualified the sitting RJD MLA, Anil Sahani, on October 13, following his conviction in what is called the travelling and lodging bill case pertaining to the period when he was JD(U) Rajya Sabha member.
Sahani, later, joined the RJD and contested the Kurhani assembly election on its ticket in 2020 and defeated BJP candidate Kedar Prasad Gupta by a thin margin of 712 votes.
After the announcement of the Kurhani bypoll by the EC, Sahani told mediapersons that the the Election Commission decision was taken in haste as the Delhi high court had suspended the lower court's order that had convicted him. Sahani also said he had pleaded with the Speaker, requesting him to take up his case with the Election Commission.
In the new situation, he was unsure about the next course of his action. Sahani said it was for the party (RJD) to decide as to who it wants to field in the bypoll -- from his family or someone else.
Incidentally, while the Kurhani assembly seat is the traditional stronghold of the samajwadi parivar, BJP had won it only in 2015. Similarly, in the last six elections, JD(U) has won it thrice, RJD twice and BJP once.