PATNA: Altogether 16 new faces emerged victorious in the biennial election for the 24 seats from the local urban bodies and panchayat raj institutions in the Bihar legislative council, the result of which was announced on Thursday.
It is also true that most of the new entrants to the legislative council come from political families or have their political backgrounds.
The most important among the new entrants is Kartikey Kumar alias Master Ji, who got elected from the Patna seat.
Kartikey of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) won the prestigious seat by defeating his nearest rival Karnaveer Singh Yadav. JDU's Valmiki Singh stood third.
Kartikey is considered close to RJD MLA from Mokama Anant Singh, who is known for his muscle power.
Similarly, Rinku Yadav of RJD emerged victorious from Gaya by defeating Maonorma Devi of JDU. Manorama had earlier represented the seat. Rinku is a close relative of RJD MLA Surendra Yadav, an influential leader of Magadh region.
Dilip Singh (Aurangabad), Ambika Gulab Yadav (Madhubani), Tarun Kumar (Samastipur), Rajiv Singh (Begusarai), Vijay Singh (Bhagalpur), Ajay Singh (Saharsa), Binod Jaiswal (Siwan), Rajeev Singh (Gopalganj), Rekha Devi (Sitarmarhi), Bhushan Kumar (Vaishali), Ashok Kumar (Nawada), Saurabh Kumar (Bettiah) and Maheshwar Singh (East Champaran) will reach the legislative council for the first time.
The rebels and independents sprang a surprise by winning four seats. The winners include Sachchidanand Singh (Saran), Maheshwar Singh (East Champaran), Ambika Gulab Yadav and Ashok Yadav.
The ruling NDA won 13 out of 24 seats. Of them, BJP won seven, JDU five and RLJP one seat, respectively. In the opposition camp, RJD won six seats and Congress one seat. However, both RJD and Congress had contested election on their own.
The victory over six seats by RJD has enabled the party to have the status of the lead opposition party in the Upper House and former chief minister Rabri Devi will get the status of leader of opposition in the legislative council. Prior to the election, RJD had five seats, three short of the numbers required for being
elected as leader of opposition in the legislative council.