Patna, Oct 29 (IANS) In a major upset in the Bihar Legislative Council elections, RJD candidate Anil Kumar Jha defeated sitting BJP MLC Sarvesh Singh by 450 votes in the Darbhanga Graduates’ constituency on Thursday.
Sarvesh Singh, who had maintained a lead during the initial rounds of counting, eventually lost the contest to Jha after a closely fought election.
In a gesture of sportsmanship after the results, Sarvesh Singh hugged Anil Kumar Jha and congratulated him on his victory.
The gesture drew attention amid the political contest between the two candidates.
RJD workers and supporters celebrated as news of Jha’s victory emerged.
After the result, Jha credited the party leadership and voters for his success.
Speaking to the media after coming out of the counting centre, Jha said he had expected to win by around 2,000 votes.
He claimed that graduates had supported him irrespective of caste and religion and thanked voters for their backing.
Jha also expressed gratitude to RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, saying the party leader had reposed confidence in him on two occasions and allowed him to contest the election.
He thanked party workers, supporters and graduate voters and expressed satisfaction with the counting process.
Reacting to the results, RJD spokesperson Shakti Yadav demanded that ballot papers be used for elections across the country.
He claimed that the RJD had won two of the eight seats contested in the Bihar Legislative Council elections and argued that ballot-paper voting was necessary to protect democracy.
Yadav also referred to the party’s earlier victory in the Bhojpur local-body Legislative Council election.
He alleged that the BJP would struggle to win elections if ballot papers were used nationwide.
These remarks reflected the RJD’s demand for a change in the voting system.
The eight-seat Bihar Legislative Council election covered four Graduate and four Teachers’ constituencies.
According to the results cited by the party, the NDA won three seats, with the BJP securing two and the JD(U) one. The RJD won two seats, while the Jan Suraaj Party secured one. Independent candidates won the remaining two seats.
The Darbhanga result is among the significant contests in the election, with the RJD unseating a sitting BJP MLC despite the latter’s early lead during counting.
–IANS
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