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Bihar: BJP Wins Kurhani Bypoll in a Setback to Ruling Mahagathbandhan

BJP candidate Kedar Gupta defeated the ruling Janata Dal-United (JD-U) candidate Manoj Kushwaha by 3,645 votes in a close fight.
Bihar: BJP Wins Kurhani Bypoll in a Setback to Ruling Mahagathbandhan

Representational Image. Image Courtesy: PTI

Patna: In a setback to ruling Mahagathbandhan in Bihar, its main political rival, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), on Thursday won the bypoll for the Kurhani Assembly seat in Muzaffarpur district. BJP candidate Kedar Gupta defeated the ruling Janata Dal-United (JD-U) candidate Manoj Kushwaha by 3,645 votes in a close fight. Gupta received 76,722 votes, while Kushwaha got 73,073 votes.

The defeat of Kushwaha is also a setback for Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav, who campaigned together in the election. A joint campaign was expected to prove a game-changer, but it did not successfully push Kushwaha to victory. The bypoll was held on December 5, and votes were counted on December 8. Though Mahagathbandhan named Kushwaha as its joint candidate in Kurhani, officially, he was affiliated with JD-U.

It was the first joint campaign by Nitish Kumar and Tejashwi Yadav for a byelection after Nitish Kumar dumped the BJP, joined hands with the RJD and formed the Mahagathbandhan government in the state in August this year. Nitish Kumar did not campaign for the byelections in Mokama, and Gopalganj seats held on November 3, citing his injuries.

Soon after the bypoll result, senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi, former deputy chief minister, targeted friend-turned-foe Nitish Kumar for the defeat of JD-U and advised him to resign.

"Nitish Kumar no longer enjoys people's support; his vote bank no longer exists. It is over. He should resign now," Modi told local media here.

RJD leader Shyam Razak said that Mahagathbandhan would look at the causes of the defeat in byelections. While another ruling ally Hindustani Awam Morcha leader Danish Rizwan said, "The defeat is a warning for us and demanded coordination for Mahagathbandhan ahead of 2024 Lok Sabha polls."

However, JD-U leaders are reluctant to say anything so far.

In the Kurhani seat, the primary fight was between Mahagathbandhan and BJP. Still, candidates from Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) and Asaduddin Owaisi's All-India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) unsuccessfully tried to make it a four-corner contest.

The VIP candidate Nilabh Kumar belonged to the powerful landed upper caste Bhumihar, and AIMIM fielded a Muslim candidate in Mohd. Gulam Murtaza. They made some dent with the help of their traditional support base. Bhumihars are widely seen as loyal to BJP's Hindutva politics, and Muslims are considered die-hard supporters of RJD and JD-U.

Nilabh Kumar secured 10,000 votes, while Murtaza received 3,206. 4,448 votes were cast for NOTA. The votes are significant, considering the margin of the victory is 3,645.

Byelections for the Kurhani seat were necessitated after its sitting RJD MLA Anil Kumar Sahni was convicted in a case of forging leave travel allowance by a Delhi court in August this year.

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