Bihar MLC election results: BJP wins 2, leads on 1; JDU, RJD, JSP win 1 seat each, Independents 2

Tension prevailed at the counting centre during the counting of votes for the Darbhanga graduate constituency in the evening.

The Bihar Legislative Council elections for eight seats boosted the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which won two seats on Wednesday – Tirhut Teachers’ and Kosi Graduates’ and was leading in Darbhanga Graduates’ – even as it lost its 30-year stronghold in the Patna Teachers’ constituency out of the four seats it contested.

Counting was still on in Darbhanga Graduates’ constituency, with Sarvesh Kumar of the BJP securing 16,115 votes, leading over Anil Kumar Jha (14,615 votes) of the RJD till the filing of this report at 9:45 pm on Wednesday. RJD candidate Anil Kumar Jha was in second place, followed by Mohammad Imtiyaz of the Jan Suraaj party, with 10,227 votes. Tension prevailed at the counting centre during the counting of votes for the Darbhanga graduate constituency in the evening after a dispute broke out between counting agents of the NDA and RJD candidates

Darbhanga district magistrate-cum-assistant returning officer Kaushal Kumar directed the detention of five people following the uproar. "Those detained included 3 counting agents of the BJP candidate and 2 counting agents of RJD candidate", said a DSP rank official. The result was expected to be declared around midnight.

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The Janata Dal-United [JD(U)], an NDA ally, retained the high-voltage Patna Graduates’ seat despite stiff internal dissension. It, however, lost the other three – Tirhut Graduates’ and the Saran and Darbhanga Teachers’ seats, thus winning a seat less than in 2020.

Dr Sanjeev Kumar of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Suresh Prasad Rai of the Jan Suraaj Party (JSP) and Independent candidates Rahul Raj and Banshidhar Brijvasi won the Patna, Darbhanga and Saran Teachers’ and the Tirhut Graduates’ seats, respectively. The Congress, which contested five seats, failed to open its tally, dealing a blow to the grand old party.

The Graduates’ results offered the NDA a counterweight to its mixed performance among teachers, as the NDA won the Patna and Kosi Graduates’ seats and led in Darbhanga.

BJP’s Narendra Kumar Yadav, who polled over 10,000 votes, won by a margin of over 2,000 votes, recording a hat-trick of victories in the Kosi Graduates constituency.

The Patna Graduates’ contest remained a major political flashpoint for the JD(U), with Neeraj Kumar, a senior party leader, former minister and sitting MLC, registering a hat-trick of victories. He defeated RJD candidate Dilip Kumar, with JSP’s Dr Anuj Singh trailing in third place.

The Patna Graduates’ contest was marked by open dissent within the JD(U), with Mokama MLA Anant Kumar Singh campaigning against Neeraj Kumar and backing JSP’s Anuj Singh. The party suspended Anant Singh for six years over alleged anti-party activities. The result was seen as a test of the JD(U)’s ability to contain internal dissent and consolidate support behind its official nominee.

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Calling the result a victory for the party, Neeraj Kumar said, “Dhanbal aur bahubal hara hai. Karyakartabal aur janbal ki jeet hui hai” (Money power and muscle power have lost; the strength of party workers and public support has won). He also credited Nishant’s leadership, saying the result had established him as a leader.

Anant Singh accepted Neeraj’s victory but said he had no regrets about backing the JSP candidate. He maintained that he had differences with Neeraj, rather than the JD(U) itself. On his possible return to the JD(U), Anant Singh said, “The party will know that better.”

The result of the Patna Graduates’ seat strengthens the JD(U)’s position behind its official nominee, though the public disagreement has exposed tensions within its ranks.

Bihar MLC election results

The Teachers’ results were otherwise fragmented. Jan Suraaj Party (JSP) candidate Suresh Prasad Rai defeated sitting Congress MLC Madan Mohan Jha in Darbhanga, while BJP rebel Rahul Raj won Saran Teachers’ as an Independent, defeating JD(U)’s Anand Pushkar and JSP’s Afaque Ahmad, who won as an Independent in the April 2023 by-election. Raj secured 3,300 votes against Pushkar’s 2,727, while Ahmad finished third with 2,454.

The most significant setback for the BJP was the defeat of veteran MLC Nawal Kishore Yadav in Patna Teachers’. Yadav, who had won the seat for five consecutive terms, lost to the RJD’s Dr Sanjeev Kumar, handing the opposition a key victory in a constituency the BJP had long held.