PATNA: The byelections to the 10 Assembly constituencies in Bihar held on Thursday evoked a moderate response with initial reports suggesting that the turnout was around 45-50 per cent.
Bypolls were held for Bhagalpur, Mohania, Narkatiaganj, Hajipur, Banka, Parbatta, Jale, Chapra, Mohiuddinnagar and Rajnagar Assembly seats.
Usually, the bypolls elicit little interest, but analysts are attaching political significance to them as it is for the first time in 20 years that RJD chief Lalu Prasad and former chief minister and Janata Dal (United) leader Nitish Kumar are contesting the elections together. Nitish, snapped his 17-year-long association with the BJP on June 16 and after the Lok Sabha debacle in May last, joined hands with the RJD.
The BJP-led alliance won 31 seats in the parliamentary elections, while the RJD got four and the JD(U) and the Congress two each. The NCP won the rest one seat.
Apart from the RJD and the JD(U), the Congress too is a part of this grand alliance forged against the BJP after the rout of these three parties in the Lok Sabha polls.
Five of these 10 seats were vacated after the BJP MLAs got elected to the Lok Sabha. Thursday’s election is being dubbed by many political observers as semi-final as the Assembly elections arre due in Bihar in Oct-Nov 2015. The bypolls are also a test of the strength of the state BJP leadership as the saffron party performed well in the Lok Sabha elections because of the presence of Narendra Modi as the prime ministerial candidate. Now, much is at stake for the former deputy chief minister and the party’s likely chief ministerial candidate Sushil Kumar Modi.
Often, the voting trend in the Assembly and parliamentary elections is different. For example, the RJD which performed poorly in the Lok Sabha elections in April-May 2014 won three out of five Assembly bypolls held on the same dates. The fourth one was bagged by the JD(U) while the BJP had to content with just one.
Heavy Voter Turnout in K’taka ByPOLLS
Bangalore: Heavy voter turnout was reported in three Assembly segments, where by-elections were held peacefully on Thursday. According to Election Commission sources, Chikkodi-Sadalaga constituency witnessed a heavy voter turnout of over 86 per cent, followed by 72 per cent in Bellary Rural and 71 per cent in Shikaripur constituencies. The polling was peaceful and no untoward incident was reported, the sources said. The counting of votes would be held on Monday and the results are expected to be out by noon.