Bihar by-polls: 17 candidates in fray for 2 Assembly seats; Tej Pratap to back Congress

In a recent update to the Bihar by-polls, an official from the election office informed that in total there are 17 candidates who are left in the fray for the by-election to Tarapur and Kusheshwar Asthan Assembly seats in Bihar on the last date for withdrawal of nomination papers on Saturday. The two seats fell vacant after Tarapur MLA Mewa Lal Chaudhary lost his life to COVID-19, and Kusheshwar Asthan MLA Shashi Bhushan Hazari died of Hepatitis B. 

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's JD(U) had won both the seats in the Assembly polls. For the by-polls, the party has fielded candidates for both Tarapur and the reserved Kusheshwar Asthan and seeks to retain both seats with the backing of the BJP and other NDA partners like the Hindustani Awam Morcha and Vikassheel Insaan Party.

RJD's Arun Kumar and Rajesh Mishra of the Congress are challenging JD(U)'s Rajiv Kumar Singh for the Tarapur Assembly seat in the upcoming by-poll. In Kusheshwar Asthan, Aman Bhushan Hazari, son of three-time MLA Shashi Hazari has been fielded by JD(U). 

Bihar bypolls

Ashok Ram, whose son Atirek is the Congress candidate for Kusheshwar Asthan, had earlier contested the reserved seat and was runner-up. Meanwhile, RJD (Rashtriya Janata Dal) has fielded Ganesh Bharti. It is to be noted that RJD and Congress had fought the Assembly polls together. But, with the early announcement of candidates for both the seats by RJD, Congress which was hopeful of fighting Kusheshwar Asthan with the support of its ally was shocked. 

RJD's remarks that Congress won't be able to win any seat made the latter decide to fight both constituencies in an attempt to shed the image of a spent force, news agency PTI reported. 

On the other hand, the Left Front including CPI, CPI(M), and CPI(M-L)  which had contested as part of the five-party Grand Alliance has announced its full support to the RJD. Misa Bharati, a Rajya Sabha member, looks unlikely to be considered for another term and Tej Pratap Yadav has already floated his own organisation. Tej Pratap has decided to run a parallel campaign supporting the Congress in Kusheshwar Asthan. 

In terms of the Lok Janshakti Party, Chirag Paswan, son of late Ram Vilas Paswan will pitch to prove a point. He is representing the Jamui Lok Sabha constituency, under which Tarapur falls, for the second consecutive term. His ability to win Dalits in Kushewshar Asthan, which falls in Darbhanga district, will also be put to test following the alleged “betrayal” by his uncle Pashupati Kumar Paras who split the party founded by his legendary father and ended up getting a berth in the Union Cabinet.

Voting is scheduled to take place on October 30 and results will be announced on November 2. 

(With inputs from PTI, Image: PTI)