The ruling JD(U) on Sunday retained the Laukaha Assembly seat in Bihar with its candidate Sanjay Kumar Sah defeating his nearest RJD rival Mokhtar Ahmed by 22,763 votes.
Sanjay, son of the former Panchayati Raj, BC and MBC Welfare Minister Hari Prasad Sah, whose death in October had forced the bypoll in the Assembly seat, polled 64,425 votes as against Ahmed’s 41,662 votes, Madhubani district magistrate and returning officer Sanjeev Kumar Hans said.
Samajwadi Janata Dal (Democratic) candidate Talmul Hussain polled 6425 votes, while Congress’s Ram Sunder Tarait received 4664 votes to stand in third and fourth position respectively.
As many as 13 candidates were in fray for the bypoll in Laukaha Assembly seat.
With the latest victory, the ruling JD(U)’s strength in the state Assembly has increased to 117 MLAs in the 243-member House.
JD(U) ally BJP has 92 MLAs in the Assembly followed by the RJD (22), LJP (1), Congress (4) and others (7).
Meanwhile, chief minister Nitish Kumar and deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi hailed JD(U)’s victory in Laukaha Assembly bypoll and said that the result was the reflection of NDA’s appeal with the mass on its agenda of development with social justice.
“The victory of JD(U) candidate Satish Kumar Sah was a vindication of the ruling NDA’s appeal with the people for ushering in development in the state,” the chief minister said.
The fact that the voters of Laukaha has elected the JD(U) nominee by a larger margin than that of 2010 assembly polls spoke volume of the confidence of the people in the state government to deliver, he said.
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Karunakar in Delhi to forge Cong ties?
N.B. Hombal
Bengaluru Dec. 4
On a day when the Reddy brothers’ close associate, B. Sreeramulu won the Bellary byelections by a huge margin, the eldest of the Reddys, Gali Karunakar Reddy was reportedly in Delhi trying to get in touch with Congress bigwigs through “well-wishers” from Andhra Pradesh.
A source close to the Reddys said that the Reddy brothers are trying to open a dialogue process with Congress leaders in Delhi so that they can forge an alliance before the next Assembly elections in Karnataka and seek political rehabilitation. “Reddys are serious about floating their own party and retaining their clout in the north Karnataka and Hyderabad Karnataka regions. As they cannot associate with the BJP in next elections, they are trying other alternatives to remain in the reckoning,” the source explained.
The source added that though it is still premature to draw a conclusion on whether they will succeed in getting into the Congress’ good books.