Did RJD Cry Foul After Bihar Results with Close Losses?
Synopsis
Key Takeaways
- The RJD claims the Election Commission's actions impacted election results.
- Three candidates lost by narrow margins, highlighting electoral contention.
- The NDA's victory marks a significant win in Bihar's political landscape.
- Nitish Kumar has been sworn in as Chief Minister for the 10th time.
- The integrity of the electoral process is under scrutiny.
Patna, Nov 21 (NationPress) RJD spokesperson Ejaz Ahmed has accused the Election Commission of India (ECI) of swaying the results of the Bihar Assembly elections by rejecting a significant number of postal ballots in numerous closely contested constituencies.
He asserted that at least three candidates from the Grand Alliance faced defeats by narrow margins attributed to the cancellation of postal votes.
In the Nabinagar Assembly constituency located in Saharsa district, JDU's Chetan Anand triumphed over RJD’s Amod Kumar Singh by a mere 112 votes, while the ECI rejected 132 postal ballots, Ahmed pointed out.
Likewise, in the Agiaon Assembly constituency of Bhojpur district, CPI-ML candidate Shiv Prakash Ranjan lost to BJP's Mahesh Paswan by just 95 votes, with 175 postal ballots being nullified.
The tightest race, according to Ahmed, occurred in the Sandesh Assembly constituency, also in Bhojpur district, where RJD’s Dipu Singh was defeated by JDU’s Radha Charan Sah with a razor-thin margin of 27 votes.
In this instance, 360 postal ballots were rejected by the Election Commission.
Ahmed contended that the trend of postal ballot cancellations suggests that the Election Commission played a role in thwarting opposition candidates, labeling it a visible manipulation.
So far, the Election Commission has not addressed these accusations.
The results of the Bihar Assembly elections, announced on November 14, revealed that the opposition alliance secured only 35 seats, with RJD winning 25, Congress 6, CPI-ML 2, IIP 1, and CPI 1.
In contrast, the NDA celebrated a decisive victory, winning 202 out of 243 seats in the Bihar Assembly.
Among these, the BJP emerged as the largest party, securing 89 seats, followed by JDU with 85 seats, LJPRV 19, HAM 5, and RLM 4.
The swearing-in ceremony took place at Patna’s Gandhi Maidan on Thursday, marking Nitish Kumar's 10th oath-taking as the Chief Minister of Bihar.