Parties claim to have dented each other’s vote bank in Bihar bypoll, but political analysts tell a cautionary tale

‘The bypoll results have shown that it’s not going to be a cakewalk for the grand alliance in the upcoming polls in the State and they have to work hard to forge a formidable challenge against the BJP’

The ruling Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Opposition BJP claim to have dented each other’s vote banks in the recently concluded bypoll, while political analysts anticipate tough electoral battles ahead in the State.

In a clear message to both sides, bypoll results for both Mokama and Gopalganj showed a lower victory margin than in the 2020 Assembly poll.

In the Mokama bypoll, the RJDs’ Neelam Devi’s victory margin was 16,741, whereas in the 2020 Assembly election, her husband Anant Singh had defeated his nearest Janata Dal-United (JD-U) rival Rajiv Lochan by 35,757 votes. The bypoll was necessitated as Singh, a bahubali or strongman, was convicted in criminal case.

In Gopalganj, BJP candidate Kusum Devi retained the seat with a slender margin of 1,794 votes — her husband and former MLA Subhash Singh had defeated his nearest rival by 36,712 votes in the previous Assembly poll. Her victory margin was even less than the 2,170 votes polled as NOTA (‘None Of The Above’).

Kusum Devi is the widow of BJP MLA Subhash Singh, whose death after a prolong illness had necessitated the bypoll.

“Had the AIMIM (All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen) and BSP (Bahujan Samaj Party) candidate not made a dent into the Muslim and Yadav vote banks [of the RJD], the BJP candidate would have lost the poll in Gopalganj,” political analyst Ajay Kumar told The Hindu.

The AIMIM’s candidate, Abdul Salam, secured 12,214 votes, and the BSP’s candidate, Indira Devi, wife of former Gopalganj MP and MLA Anirudh Prasad Yadav alias Sadhu Yadav, the brother-in-law of RJD chief Lalu Prasad, secured 8,854 votes.