NDA wins all four seats in Bihar bypolls; Prashant Kishor’s party fails to make a mark in debut

NDA sweeps Bihar bypolls with 52.83% voter turnout, defeating opposition parties, including Prashant Kishor's Jan Suraaj party.

The ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has swept all four Assembly seats in Bihar for which byelections were held on November 13 with 52.83% voter turnout. Three of these seats – Tarari, Ramgarh and Belaganj – were previously held by Opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) and Imamganj seat by the NDA. Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraaj party failed to make a mark in its poll debut with its candidates suffering a severe drubbing on all four seats.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won Tarari and Ramgarh while its ally Janata Dal (United) [JD(U)] candidate Manorama Devi bagged Belaganj. Another NDA constituent Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) candidate Deepa Manjhi, who is the daughter-in-law of party chief and Union Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, defeated Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) candidate Roshan Manjhi in Imamganj.

The RJD, which previously held Ramgarh and Belaganj, drew a blank this time. The CPI(ML), which won Tarari for the last two terms, failed to retain the seat this time. BJP’s Vishal Prashant won it defeating CPI(ML)‘s Raju Yadav. In Ramgarh, BJP’s Ashok Kumar Singh defeated Bahujan Samaj Party’s (BSP) Satish Singh Yadav alias Pintu Yadav. RJD’s Ajit Singh came third here.

The candidates of Jan Suraaj party, floated by poll strategist-turned-politician Prashant Kishor who had scripted win for several parties in different States in the past, were handed severe defeats on all four seats. The party’s Kiran Singh in Tarari, Mohd. Amjad in Belaganj and Dr. Jitendra Paswan in Imamganj came third, while Sushil Kumar Singh Kushwaha was relegated to fourth position in Ramgarh. Mr. Kishor launched the party on October 2 this year and and had taken out a whirlwind campaign for the bypolls.

Mr. Kishor had also undertaken a padyatra (foot march) across Bihar covering more than 5,000 km and interacting with people in about two years since October 2, 2022. “Our party has got 10% vote share. We could have done better but our party was just a month old and we got our poll symbol only on November 1. However, these cannot be the excuse for party’s dismal performance but we’ll work hard next time and there is no reason for anyone in our party to feel let down.” he told media persons in Patna after the poll results came out on Saturday.

JD(U) national spokesperson Rajiv Ranjan Prasad said, “The people of Bihar deserve kudos for rejecting the negativity of the Opposition parties and reposing their trust in Chief Minister Nitish Kumar-led NDA in Bihar. Under his (Mr. Kumar) leadership, the NDA will win more than 200 of the total 243 seats in the Assembly election next year.” Party workers celebrated the NDA’s victory at the party office premises on Beerchand Patel Road in Patna.

A few yards away, the RJD office was covered in a pall of gloom.