PATNA: It came as a major setback for the ruling Janata Dal (United), a major ally of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), when an Independent candidate Shankar Singh emerged victorious in the by-election to Rupauli assembly seat in Bihar’s Purnea district.
The result of the by-poll held on July 10 was announced on Saturday.
Shankar Singh, known for his muscle power, defeated JD(U)’s Kaladhar Prasad Mandal and RJD’s Bima Bharti in the three-corned contest on the seat.
Rupauli's seat was earlier held by JD(U). The resignation of sitting MLA Bima Bharti to contest the Lok Sabha election from Purnea on an RJD ticket necessitated a by-election to the Rupauli seat.
Shankar, who quit the Lok Janshakti Party to contest by-election as a rebel, defeated JD(U)’s Kaladhar Prasad Mandal by 8,211 votes while pushing RJD’s Bima Bharti to the third position.
While Chief Minister Nitish had campaigned for Mandal, RJD leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav had addressed rallies in favour of Bharti in the by-election.
Shankar Singh secured 67,779 votes followed by Mandal, who scored 59,568 votes. Bharti scored just 30,108 votes. Interestingly, 5,675 voters cast their votes for NOTA.
Singh, stated to be a self-styled commander of North Bihar Liberation Army, a private organisation to fight against Bharti’s husband Awadhesh Mandal’s tyranny, had served as MLA from Rupauli from February 2005 to November 2005.
The result of the by-election is just a replica of the Lok Sabha election held on the Purnea seat from where Independent candidate Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav emerged victorious by defeating candidates of both NDA and ‘INDIA’ bloc.
During his election campaign, Shankar Singh had said, “If Pappu Yadav can win as Independent why can’t Shankar Singh?”
Political experts attributed the victory of Independent candidates to the people’s disenchantment with both national and regional parties, who have not come to the expectations of the people.
“People are fed up with these political parties who have no principles or political ethics now. For them, remaining in power is their supreme objective,” said a political observer,” Pramod Kumar.