JD(U) retains both Assembly seats in Bihar by-elections
The Hindu
Comfortable win in Kusheshwarsthan, close fight in Tarapur
The ruling Janata Dal (United) in Bihar retained both Assembly seats in the State on Tuesday by defeating Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) candidates. In Kusheshwarsthan, JD(U) won comfortably while in Tarapur it was a close contest. Bypolls to both seats were held on October 30.
In Kusheshwarsthan (Darbhanga), Aman Bhushan Hazari (JD(U)) defeated Ganesh Bharti (RJD) by over 12,000 votes. In Tarapur (Munger) Rajeev Kumar Singh (JD(U)) won the seat against Arun Kumar Shah (RJD) by a thin margin of 3,821 votes. Mr. Hazari is son of Maheshwar Hazari, whose death resulted in the Kusheshwarsthan bypoll, while in Tarapur it was due to the death of Mewalal Choudhary.
Soon after the results were announced, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, who was camping at Darbhanga to monitor the result of Kusheshwarsthan, said: “We fought hard at Kusheshwarsthan, where our party had never contested, but the JD(U) candidate got sympathy votes as well. We respect people’s mandate as we believe in democracy but people of Bihar need change and change will come.”