In a huge setback to the ruling Janata Dal (United) – and its leader Nitish Kumar – the opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) wrested the Jokihat assembly seat in Bihar from them in the bypoll by a margin of 41,000 votes.
RJD candidate Shahnawaz Alam defeated Murshid Alam of the JD(U).
The result is a jolt to the Bihar Chief Minister who dumped the RJD and the Congress last year to join hands with the BJP and formed a new coalition government in Bihar.
What does this mean for the three stakeholders – Tejaswi Yadav, Lalu Yadav and Nitish Kumar?
Third Win For Tejaswi
Following the win, a buoyed Tejashwi Yadav attacked Nitish Kumar, saying that if he has a conscience, he should immediately tender his resignation.
He further said the Chief Minister was "reduced to the status of a captain who cannot even find a place in the playing eleven".
Yadav’s buoyancy is expected.
This is the third success for the RJD under his leadership, after Jehanabad and Araria. The 28-year-old took over the party reins after his father and former state Chief Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav was jailed in December 2017.
Reminder of Nitish’s U-Turn
The Jokihat seat in Muslim-dominated Araria district was held by the JD(U) during the 2015 state elections. The current bypoll was necessitated by the resignation in March of sitting MLA Sarfaraz Alam, the elder brother of the RJD candidate.
Sarfaraz Alam went on to win the bypoll to the Araria Lok Sabha seat on an RJD ticket.
Their father, Taslimuddin, whose death had necessitated the Araria bypoll, had represented Jokihat for a record five times.
The bypoll defeat has come as a jolt to Nitish Kumar’s JD(U), which had registered three consecutive wins at Jokihat before today’s loss.
Though Nitish Kumar has not commented on the loss, JD(U) General Secretary KC Tyagi said the defeat was an outcome of the nationwide reaction to the recent fuel price hike.
However, the defeated JD(U) candidate Murshid Alam said the JDU(U)’s recent tie-up with the BJP may also have angered many of the party's traditional voters. He also accused the RJD of "indulging in large-scale mischievous campaign on communal lines against the BJP-led NDA".
After breaking ties with the BJP in 2013, Nitish had sided with the RJD and the Congress, forming a grand alliance with the two parties to fight the 2015 battle against the BJP in the state. That year, Nitish Kumar’s government came into power with the support of the RJD and Congress. In fact, the RJD won more seats than the JD(U), helping Nitish form government. Surprisingly, the BJP won less than 60 seats in the state assembly elections, despite doing very well in the Lok Sabha elections merely a year ago.
But hardly a year later, the Mahagathbandhan frayed, with Nitish making a massive U-turn to join hands once again with the BJP.
Even Tejaswi Yadav took a dig at him, claiming that the JD(U) national president's "body language shows that he is ready for yet another political somersault as he has been unable to secure any benefits for Bihar after his alliance with the BJP. His sudden reiteration of the demand for special status is an example."
Lalu’s Teflon Image?
Despite his arrest, the image of Lalu Prasad Yadav is seemingly unaffected. The people have voted in the favour of the RJD for the third time in bypolls despite the charges of corruption against its chief.
After the Jokihat win, the RJD heir apparent Tejaswi Yadav reiterated that Lalu’s power is unlikely to wane.
Lalu had envisaged a united opposition to take on the BJP which is taking shape across the country. If the results of bypolls held in various parts of the country are any indication, the countdown for the BJP-led NDA at the Centre has begun.
He further said the victory was also "a befitting reply to the political detractors of my father Lalu Prasad who has been framed in one case after another".
(With inputs from PTI).
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