Both the ruling Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Opposition Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) retained their respective seats of Mokama and Gopalganj in the bypolls in Bihar.
In Mokama Assembly constituency, RJD candidate Neelam Devi defeated BJP candidate Sonam Devi by over 16,000 votes.
Neelam Devi is wife of imprisoned bahubali (strongman) Anant Singh and Sonam Devi is wife of Nalini Ranjan Singh alias Lallan Singh. Both the candidates were from upper caste Bhumihar community.
In Gopalganj Assembly constituency, BJP candidate Kusum Devi defeated RJD candidate Mohan Prasad Gupta in a fiercely fought bypoll by a thin margin of over 2,000 votes. Kusum Devi is wife of former BJP MLA and Minister Subhas Singh.
The bypoll in Mokama was necessitated after sitting Rashtriya Janata Dal MLA and bahubali (strongman) Anant Singh alias Chhote Sarkar (mini government) was convicted in an arms seizure case and sentenced to 10 years of prison. Mr. Singh has been representing the seat since 2005.
“In Mokama it was an election based on personalities instead of parties and the comfortable win of Neelam Devi was a foregone conclusion as Anant Singh has become a more popular personality in the area in terms of muscle power and easy accessibility to the local residents, than others,” local journalist Birendra Kumar told The Hindu.
In Gopalganj the bypoll was held after sitting BJP legislator Subhash Singh’s death after a prolonged illness.
In a closely fought election in Gopalganj, the BJP candidate finally retained the seat after several ups and down in vote counting.
It is said that the AIMIM (All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen) candidate Abdul Salam alias Aslam Mukhia in the fray had made the win possible for the BJP candidate.
It was for the first time AIMIM had fielded candidate in Gopalganj bypoll after wining fives seats in Seemanchal (border) districts of north-east Bihar in last 2020 Assembly poll in the State.
However, four of the five AIMIM MLAs later joined the RJD.
Anirrudh Prasad Yadav alias Sadhu Yadav who is brother-in-law of RJD chief Lalu Prasad too had fielded his wife Indira Devi on Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) ticket from the seat and is said to have spoilt chances of the RJD candidate by making a dent into RJD’s traditional Yadav vote bank.
In last Assembly poll, Mr. Sadhu Yadav had got over 41,000 votes and was runner up in the poll.
“Both Indira Devi and the AIMIM candidate proved crucial in win of the BJP candidate from Gopalganj where the bypoll was a keenly fought contest,” a local senior journalist told The Hindu.
“The RJD candidate Mohan Prasad Gupta has given a tough fight to the BJP candidate on the seat from where party has been winning the poll since last several terms,” he added.
In Gopalganj Assembly seat Muslims have the largest 65,000 votes followed by upper caste Rajputs, Vaishya and Brahmin voters. The Other Backward Class (OBC) Yadav voters too are in sizeable number in the Assembly constituency.
Recently, senior State BJP leader and party Rajya Sabha member Sushil Kumar Modi had alleged the RJD candidate Mr. Gupta as “a liquor mafia who has liquor factories in Goa”.
Bypoll in both Mokama and Gopalganj Assembly constituencies passed off peacefully on November 3 with 53.45% and 51.48% voter’s turnout in respectively.
The voter’s turnout in both the constituencies was low when compared to the last 2020 Assembly elections. In 2020 Assembly election, voters turnout in Mokama was 54.1%, while in Gopalganj it was 55.3%.
This has been the first bypoll after ruling ally JD(U) had severed ties with the BJP in August this year to form ‘Mahagathbandhan’ (Grand Alliance) Government along with the RJD, the Congress and other smaller parties.
Though Chief Minister Nitish Kumar did not campaign for the bypolls citing health reason, he had released a video message to the voters appealing them to vote for the RJD candidates.
However, JD(U) national president Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh, and RJD leader who is also Deputy Chief Minister of the State Tejashwi Yadav had campaigned in Mokama and Gopalganj for RJD candidates, while Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) leader Chirag Paswan had campaigned and held road shows for BJP candidates at both the places.
