Did RJD Justly Lose in Bihar Elections?
Synopsis
Key Takeaways
- RJD claims electoral manipulation by the Election Commission.
- Three candidates lost by narrow margins.
- NDA won a significant majority in the assembly.
- Concerns about the integrity of the electoral process.
- Nitish Kumar continues as Chief Minister.
Patna, Nov 21 (NationPress) RJD spokesperson Ejaz Ahmed has accused the Election Commission of India (ECI) of manipulating the results of the Bihar Assembly elections by dismissing a significant number of postal ballots in various competitive constituencies.
Ahmed asserted that at least three candidates from the Grand Alliance suffered defeats by slim margins due to the annulment of postal votes.
For instance, in the Nabinagar Assembly seat of Saharsa district, JDU candidate Chetan Anand triumphed over RJD’s Amod Kumar Singh by a mere 112 votes, while 132 postal ballots were rejected by the ECI, as noted by Ahmed.
Likewise, in Agiaon Assembly, located in Bhojpur district, CPI-ML candidate Shiv Prakash Ranjan lost to BJP candidate Mahesh Paswan by just 95 votes, with 175 postal ballots being canceled.
The most closely contested race, according to Ahmed, occurred in Sandesh Assembly, also in Bhojpur district, where RJD’s Dipu Singh lost to JDU’s Radha Charan Sah by a narrow margin of 27 votes. In this constituency, 360 postal ballots were rejected by the Election Commission of India.
Ahmed contended that the trend of postal ballot cancellations suggests the ECI played a role in thwarting opposition candidates, labeling the situation as a transparent manipulation.
As of now, the Election Commission has not addressed these claims.
The results of the Bihar Assembly elections, announced on November 14, indicated that the opposition alliance secured only 35 seats—RJD obtained 25, Congress 6, CPI-ML 2, IIP 1, and CPI 1.
Conversely, the NDA achieved a decisive victory, claiming 202 out of the total 243 seats in the Bihar Assembly.
Among these, BJP won 89 seats, establishing itself as the largest party in this election, followed by JDU with 85 seats, LJPRV 19, HAM 5, and RLM 4.
The swearing-in ceremony took place at Gandhi Maidan in Patna on Thursday, where Nitish Kumar took the oath as the Chief Minister of Bihar for the tenth time.