RJD’s Amar Paswan wins Bochaha bypoll in Bihar

Ruling NDA candidate defeated by a record margin of over 36,000 votes

The Opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal on April 16 won the Bochaha (Reserved) Assembly bypoll, defeating the ruling NDA candidate by a record margin of over 36,000 votes.

The bypoll was held on April 12 and was necessitated by the death of Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) MLA Musafir Paswan.

RJD candidate Amar Paswan got 82,562 votes, while NDA candidate from BJP Baby Kumari received 45,909 votes. The VIP’s Geeta Devi got 29,279 votes and was relegated to third position. Ms. Devi is the daughter of RJD leader Ramai Ram, a multiple-time MLA from the Bochaha (Reserved) seat.

“It’s not a victory for the RJD; the candidate Musafir Paswan got the sympathy votes due to the death of his father Musafir Paswan,” said State BJP leaders, while Opposition RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav thanked the people of Bochaha for their “judicious work” in defeating an “opportunist NDA coalition government and their anti-people policies and arrogance.”

“The RJD had raised issues of unemployment, inflation, collapsed education, health, agriculture and the law and order situation in the State during the Bochaha bypoll campaign,” Mr. Yadav said in a tweet.

The VIP’s Ms. Devi had left the counting centre even before the results were announced.

The Bochaha seat, reserved for Scheduled Caste candidates, in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur district, had fallen vacant after the death of Paswan, who had won the 2020 Assembly poll for the VIP led by Bollywood set designer-turned-politician Mukesh Sahani.