PATNA: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s JD (U) has been relegated to the second position in the state legislative council after elections to five seats, while poll strategist Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraj Abhiyan supported independent candidate has won from Saran.
Elections were held for Saran (Graduate), Gaya (Graduate), Gaya (Teachers) and Kosi, while Saran (Teachers) saw by-elections. The results of the elections were announced late on Thursday.
The by-election was necessitated due to the death of former CPI MLC Kedarnath Pandey. Pandey’s son Anand Pushkar, who contested the polls as a joint Grand Alliance candidate, was defeated by Independent candidate Afaque Ahmad, backed by Jan Suraj Abhiyan.
Ahmad’s win is seen as a major morale booster for Kishor, who had embarked on the statewide ‘Jan Suraj Yatra’ from the West Champaran district on October 2 last year.
Meanwhile, BJP has emerged as the single largest party. BJP has 24 members in the 75-member House by winning two seats. JD (U) has been relegated to the second position with 23 MLCs. Earlier, Nitish’s party had 24 MLCs. BJP retained one seat while wrested one seat from JD (U). BJP won both Gaya (Teachers) and Gaya (Graduates) seats.
Grand Alliance candidates emerged victorious in Kosi (Graduates) and Saran (Graduates ). The major loser was the state RJD president Jagdanand Singh’s son Puneet Kumar Singh who lost from Gaya.