01-03-2008, 02:40 AM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Boost for Nitish, setback for Maya
Pioneer News Service | Patna/ Lucknow
In what is seen as a major boost for Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and a setback for his Uttar Pradesh counterpart Mayawati, the Janata Dal (U)-BJP surmounted heavy odds to retain the Bikramganj Lok Sabha seat while the <b>Bahujan Samaj Party suffered a jolt losing the prestigious Ballia seat to its arch rival Samajwadi Party</b>.Â
The JD(U) retained its hold on Bikramganj Lok Sabha constituency when its candidate Meena Singh, the widow of former local MP Ajit Singh, defeated her nearest RJD rival Ashok Kumar Kushwaha by 31,258 votes. While Singh secured 1,65,664 votes, Kushwaha polled 1,34,406 votes.
<b>In West Bengal, the CPI(M) renewed its influence on Balaghar Assembly seat with its nominee Bhuban Pramanik defeating his nearest Trinamool Congress challenger Ashim Majhi by 8,410 votes. </b>The CPI(M) victory margin went down by 10,000 votes compared to last polls.
In Ballia, SP Neeraj Shekhar, cashing in on the sympathy for his father Chandrashekhar, former Prime Minister who died last year, romped home by a margin of over 1,30,000 votes over his nearest rival BSP's Vinay Shankar Tewari. Neeraj polled over 2,95,000 votes while Tewari secured more than 1,64,000 votes. This was the first major setback for the ruling BSP in the State.
BJP's Virendra Singh and Congress' Rajiv Upadhya polled over 22,000 and over 10,000 votes respectively losing their deposits.
In Bikramganj, where <b>RJD chief Lalu Prasad had placed his prestige at stake and forged a formidable caste combination and banked on the support from disgruntled JD(U) Rajya Sabha member Bashisth Narayan Singh, Anand Mohan Singh and expelled party leader Upendra Kushwaha.</b>
The RJD boss camped at Bikramganj for well over a week. To make up for his drifting minority vote base, <b>Lalu Prasad even stayed at jailed party leader Akhlaque Ahmad's residence</b>.
With Yadav and Kuswahas making up for nearly 28 per cent votes, Lalu hoped that Upendra Kushwaha, a one -time right hand of Nitish Kumar, would be able to make a major dent in the Kurmi-Koeri combination forged by the Bihar CM in the last Assembly polls. While this did not happen, Lalu even failed to effectively divide the Rajput votes despite support from Basisth Narain Singh and Anand Mohan Singh, who was recently convicted in the murder of former Gopalganj District Magistrate.
Ever since the RJD had lost power in the State two years ago, Lalu Prasad had been desperately looking for an opportunity to galvanise his party leaders and workers to prove he was not yet politically finished. However, t<b>he result has come as a major setback for him, with clear indication that people have risen over caste lines to repose their faith in development-oriented leadership of Nitish Kumar</b>.
<b>Out of total 13.87 lakh votes, the Yadavs constitute 17 per cent, Rajputs 15 per cent, Scheduled Castes 16 per cent, Koeris 11 per cent, Kurmis and Brahmins together constitute 10-15 per cent, Muslims 8 per cent while other castes 3 per cent in Bikramganj constituency. </b>
Nitish also did not leave anything for chance. He had launched a whirlwind campaign for three days there while pressing State's senior NDA leaders to make extensive tour of the area highlighting development and good governance of his Government.
"The victory of JD(U) candidate has again made it clear that people have voted for development and not in the name of caste. It's a victory of people who had voted for JD(U) candidate breaking all shackles and social barriers," reacted Nitish Kumar over his party's win in the by-poll.
The visibly ebullient Chief Minister also said that the Opposition has made all kinds of bad publicity in the poll and has also made it a prestige issue for the. "They had declared to teach us a lesson in the by-poll but fell flat on their faces", said he.
Though, the LJP had declared to support the CPI(ML) candidate Arun Kumar Singh but the party leader Ranjan Prasad Yadav's appeal to the Yadavs through his newly formed <b>Yadav Jagran Manch </b>not to support Lalu-led RJD candidate seems to have its own impact in facilitating the JD(U) win.
With the RJD having lost the Bikramganj by-poll, the political observers of the State, believe that the party boss Lalu Prasad now has lost all his hope for a comeback in the State's political firmament. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Caste equation is over, enjoying company with criminal muslim is now out of fashion, Lalu should find some other way to fool voters and away from Jail time.
Pioneer News Service | Patna/ Lucknow
In what is seen as a major boost for Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and a setback for his Uttar Pradesh counterpart Mayawati, the Janata Dal (U)-BJP surmounted heavy odds to retain the Bikramganj Lok Sabha seat while the <b>Bahujan Samaj Party suffered a jolt losing the prestigious Ballia seat to its arch rival Samajwadi Party</b>.Â
The JD(U) retained its hold on Bikramganj Lok Sabha constituency when its candidate Meena Singh, the widow of former local MP Ajit Singh, defeated her nearest RJD rival Ashok Kumar Kushwaha by 31,258 votes. While Singh secured 1,65,664 votes, Kushwaha polled 1,34,406 votes.
<b>In West Bengal, the CPI(M) renewed its influence on Balaghar Assembly seat with its nominee Bhuban Pramanik defeating his nearest Trinamool Congress challenger Ashim Majhi by 8,410 votes. </b>The CPI(M) victory margin went down by 10,000 votes compared to last polls.
In Ballia, SP Neeraj Shekhar, cashing in on the sympathy for his father Chandrashekhar, former Prime Minister who died last year, romped home by a margin of over 1,30,000 votes over his nearest rival BSP's Vinay Shankar Tewari. Neeraj polled over 2,95,000 votes while Tewari secured more than 1,64,000 votes. This was the first major setback for the ruling BSP in the State.
BJP's Virendra Singh and Congress' Rajiv Upadhya polled over 22,000 and over 10,000 votes respectively losing their deposits.
In Bikramganj, where <b>RJD chief Lalu Prasad had placed his prestige at stake and forged a formidable caste combination and banked on the support from disgruntled JD(U) Rajya Sabha member Bashisth Narayan Singh, Anand Mohan Singh and expelled party leader Upendra Kushwaha.</b>
The RJD boss camped at Bikramganj for well over a week. To make up for his drifting minority vote base, <b>Lalu Prasad even stayed at jailed party leader Akhlaque Ahmad's residence</b>.
With Yadav and Kuswahas making up for nearly 28 per cent votes, Lalu hoped that Upendra Kushwaha, a one -time right hand of Nitish Kumar, would be able to make a major dent in the Kurmi-Koeri combination forged by the Bihar CM in the last Assembly polls. While this did not happen, Lalu even failed to effectively divide the Rajput votes despite support from Basisth Narain Singh and Anand Mohan Singh, who was recently convicted in the murder of former Gopalganj District Magistrate.
Ever since the RJD had lost power in the State two years ago, Lalu Prasad had been desperately looking for an opportunity to galvanise his party leaders and workers to prove he was not yet politically finished. However, t<b>he result has come as a major setback for him, with clear indication that people have risen over caste lines to repose their faith in development-oriented leadership of Nitish Kumar</b>.
<b>Out of total 13.87 lakh votes, the Yadavs constitute 17 per cent, Rajputs 15 per cent, Scheduled Castes 16 per cent, Koeris 11 per cent, Kurmis and Brahmins together constitute 10-15 per cent, Muslims 8 per cent while other castes 3 per cent in Bikramganj constituency. </b>
Nitish also did not leave anything for chance. He had launched a whirlwind campaign for three days there while pressing State's senior NDA leaders to make extensive tour of the area highlighting development and good governance of his Government.
"The victory of JD(U) candidate has again made it clear that people have voted for development and not in the name of caste. It's a victory of people who had voted for JD(U) candidate breaking all shackles and social barriers," reacted Nitish Kumar over his party's win in the by-poll.
The visibly ebullient Chief Minister also said that the Opposition has made all kinds of bad publicity in the poll and has also made it a prestige issue for the. "They had declared to teach us a lesson in the by-poll but fell flat on their faces", said he.
Though, the LJP had declared to support the CPI(ML) candidate Arun Kumar Singh but the party leader Ranjan Prasad Yadav's appeal to the Yadavs through his newly formed <b>Yadav Jagran Manch </b>not to support Lalu-led RJD candidate seems to have its own impact in facilitating the JD(U) win.
With the RJD having lost the Bikramganj by-poll, the political observers of the State, believe that the party boss Lalu Prasad now has lost all his hope for a comeback in the State's political firmament. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Caste equation is over, enjoying company with criminal muslim is now out of fashion, Lalu should find some other way to fool voters and away from Jail time.