The ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in Bihar on Thursday suffered its first electoral setback after Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary assumed the top post as the Opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) won the Bhojpur-Buxar Legislative Council seat.

RJD’s Sonu Rai defeated Janata Dal (United) candidate Kanhaiya Prasad in the bypoll held on May 12.

It was necessitated by the resignation of Mr. Prasad’s father, Radha Charan Sah, who gave up the seat upon his election to the Assembly from the Sandesh constituency last year.

Mr. Rai won the election by 340 votes. He secured 2,486 of the 5,956 votes cast, while Mr. Prasad garnered 2,146 votes.

Six candidates, including four Independents, contested the byelection. JD(U) rebel Manoj Upadhyay got 636 votes.

Reacting to the win, RJD working president Tejashwi Yadav said, “We have maintained from the very beginning that if elections in the country and State are conducted using ballot papers, the NDA would not stand a chance anywhere. In the Assembly poll, we secured a lead in at least 150 seats when postal votes were counted. However, we were defeated through a combination of systemic manipulation, technical manoeuvring, conspiracy, deceit, and fraud.”

Mr. Yadav added, “Nowadays, even on the day of vote counting, election results are often not declared until as late as 1 or 2 a.m. In the past, counting ballot papers used to take just about the same amount of time. To uphold democratic transparency and preserve public trust in the democratic process, why shouldn’t elections now be conducted using ballot papers instead of EVMs? And yes, even after securing a victory, we have consistently advocated for the use of ballot papers for voting.”

RJD workers and leaders distributed sweets at the party office to celebrate the victory. RJD chief spokesperson Shakti Singh Yadav said whenever elections are conducted using ballot papers, democracy is strengthened. 

“This victory is a triumph of the trust and confidence that the common people repose in Tejashwi Yadav. Recently, in the Kerala Assembly election, the RJD secured victory in one seat. The party’s success in this first byelection held since the Bihar Assembly election has significantly boosted the morale of RJD workers,” said party spokesperson Chitranjan Gagan.