Five sitting MLCs lose in Bihar Council polls, Jan Suraaj opens account

Biennial elections to eight seats of the Bihar Legislative Council delivered several upsets on Wednesday, with five sitting MLCs losing their seats and Prashant Kishor's Jan Suraaj Party registering its maiden victory in the Upper House.

The BJP emerged with three seats, while Independent candidates secured two. The RJD, JD(U) and Jan Suraaj Party won one seat each. The Congress, which contested five constituencies, failed to secure a single victory.

Polling was held on October 23, and counting, which began on Tuesday, continued into Wednesday before the results were finalised.

Among the prominent losers were five-term BJP legislator Nawal Kishor Yadav and former Bihar Congress president Madan Mohan Jha. The results also reflected divisions within the opposition INDIA bloc, with candidates from constituent parties contesting against one another in several constituencies.

𝗕𝗝𝗣 𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘀

The BJP suffered a setback in the Patna Teachers' constituency, where Nawal Kishor Yadav lost to RJD candidate Sanjeev Kumar.

Sanjeev, a former MLA from Parbatta, had unsuccessfully contested last year's Assembly elections on an RJD ticket after leaving the JD(U). He managed to win the Council seat despite Congress candidate Sanjay Yadav also entering the contest.

The BJP, however, compensated for the defeat by wresting the Tirhut Teachers' constituency from CPI legislator Sanjay Kumar Singh, who was backed by the INDIA bloc. BJP candidate Narendra Prasad Singh emerged victorious.

Two other BJP legislators, Sarvesh Kumar and N K Yadav, retained the Darbhanga Graduates' and Kosi Graduates' seats, respectively.

The Darbhanga Graduates' contest exposed differences among INDIA bloc partners, with RJD's Anil Jha, Congress candidate Rajni Kant Pathak and CPI(ML) Liberation's Sandeep Chaudhary contesting separately.

𝗝𝗮𝗻 𝗦𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗮𝗷 𝘀𝗲𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝗻

Prashant Kishor's Jan Suraaj Party registered its first victory in the Bihar Legislative Council after Suresh Prasad Rai defeated sitting Congress MLC Madan Mohan Jha in the Darbhanga Teachers' constituency.

Rai, who had contested the same seat on a BJP ticket in 2020, joined Jan Suraaj a few months before the election.

Jha, a former Bihar Congress president, was seeking a third consecutive term but failed to retain the constituency.

The contest also witnessed divisions within the opposition, with CPI(M) candidate Ramdev Rai believed to have drawn votes away from the Congress. JD(U) candidate Ghanshyam Rai finished fourth.

The defeat further reduced the Congress's representation in the 75-member Council, leaving Rajeev Kumar, elected from the Begusarai local authorities constituency in 2022, as its sole member.

Rajeev Kumar is the elder brother of Sanjeev Kumar, who defeated the BJP's Nawal Kishor Yadav in Patna Teachers'. Both are sons of former minister and JD(U) leader Ramanand Prasad Singh.

𝗝𝗗(𝗨) 𝘄𝗶𝗻𝘀 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗮𝘁

The JD(U), which contested four constituencies as part of the NDA's seat-sharing arrangement, managed to retain only the Patna Graduates' seat.

Senior party leader Neeraj Kumar secured his fourth consecutive term despite opposition from Mokama MLA Anant Kumar Singh, who had campaigned for Jan Suraaj candidate Anuj Singh.

Anant Kumar Singh was expelled from the JD(U) a day after polling following his open defiance of the party's official candidate.

The result provided relief to the JD(U), which faced defeats in its remaining three constituencies.

𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗵 𝘁𝘄𝗼 𝘀𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘀

In the Saran Teachers' constituency, Independent candidate Rahul Raj, a former BJP leader, defeated sitting MLC Afaq Ahmed.

Ahmed had won the seat in 2021 with the backing of Prashant Kishor, who had not yet launched Jan Suraaj. This time, Ahmed contested as the party's official candidate but failed to retain the constituency.

The contest also witnessed divisions among NDA-aligned candidates, with JD(U)'s Anand Pushkar and Rashtriya Lok Morcha's Ram Pukar Sinha entering the fray.

In Tirhut Graduates', Independent candidate Bansi Dhar Brajwasi retained the seat he had won in a by-election two years earlier.

The bypoll had been necessitated by Legislative Council Chairman Devesh Chandra Thakur's election to the Lok Sabha from Sitamarhi.

𝗦𝗰𝘂𝗳𝗳𝗹𝗲 𝗮𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗲

Meanwhile, police detained five people following a scuffle between supporters of BJP and RJD candidates at the counting centre for the Darbhanga Graduates' constituency on Wednesday.

Officials said the situation was brought under control promptly.

The four Graduates' constituencies — Patna, Darbhanga, Tirhut and Kosi — had a combined electorate of 4.92 lakh, while the four Teachers' constituencies — Patna, Darbhanga, Tirhut and Saran — had 40,253 eligible voters.

𝗥𝗝𝗗 𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗴𝗲𝘀 𝘃𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗿𝗿𝗲𝗴𝘂𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀

Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary congratulated the successful candidates and expressed confidence that they would contribute towards improving educational standards.

"This victory is a symbol of voters' trust and public support towards the NDA," he said.

RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav welcomed his party's victory in Patna Teachers', claiming it marked a significant breakthrough after nearly two-and-a-half decades.

"After nearly two-and-a-half decades, our party has registered victory in these elections," he told reporters.

Yadav also accused the NDA of attempting to manipulate the electoral process through fraudulent voter entries and demanded greater transparency from the Election Commission.

"In the MLC polls, the NDA's conspiracy to add fake votes was also exposed. The EC should maintain transparency in the electoral process," he alleged.

He further claimed that fraudulent votes had been cast in favour of BJP candidate Nawal Kishor Yadav, despite which RJD's Sanjeev Kumar emerged victorious. The allegations were not independently substantiated.

Rashtriya Lok Morcha president and Rajya Sabha MP Upendra Kushwaha also congratulated the winners, expressing hope that they would contribute to the goal of building a developed Bihar and India by 2047.