Patna: While Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader and former Bihar deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav survived a scare and managed to retain the Raghopur seat, his elder brother Tej Pratap Yadav lost from the Mahua constituency in the Bihar Assembly elections, the results of which were declared on Friday.
Tej Pratap, who was expelled from the RJD patriarch Lalu Prasad Yadav earlier this year, floated his own party Janshakti Janata Dal (JJD) and contested the elections.
In a major disappointment, Tej Pratap ended in third position from Mahua, a seat he had won quite comfortably in 2015 when contesting on an RJD ticket. He had then secured 43.34% of the total votes polled. This year, he was contesting against Sanjay Kumar Singh of the Lok Janshakti Party – Ram Vilas or LJP (RV) and Mukesh Kumar Raushan of the RJD.
While Singh emerged victorious with 87,000 votes and a winning margin of more than 44,000, Raushan – the sitting MLA – came second and Tej Pratap was relegated to third position.
Tej Pratap blamed ‘Jaichands’ for the RJD’s poor showing in Bihar. According to him, these ‘Jaichands’ have followed out the party from within. He also congratulated the NDA for its victory and said that the people of Bihar have chosen a government of good governance.
There was major relief for Tejashwi though after facing a roller coaster ride throughout the day. Satish Kumar Yadav of the BJP gave Tejashwi, the sitting MLA from Raghopur, a run for his money. At one point of time, Tejashwi was trailing.
Tejashwi received around 1,18,597 votes and won by a margin of around 14,532 votes after the counting of the 32nd round ended. The BJP candidate secured around 1,04,065 votes, putting up a strong fight.
Raghopur has been long associated with his family’s political legacy.
While Tejashwi did make it through, he will certainly be disappointed with the performance of his party. The people of Bihar seem to have completely discarded the RJD and the Mahagathbandhan.
Tejashwi had been very optimistic before the counting. He had also told reporters that he would be taking oath on November 18 as it is an auspicious date. This was not to be though with the Mahagathbandhan failing to reach the 40 mark.