RJD leading in Bihar bypolls

The RJD is leading in the Kusheshwar Asthan and Tarapur Assembly seats in Bihar as counting of votes cast in the October 30 bypolls is underway on Tuesday.

The counting of postal ballots is completed and a second round is underway.

In Kusheshwar Asthan, RJD candidate Ganesh Bharti is leading by 510 votes. The party has received 4,926 votes so far.

Meanwhile, the JD(U) has secured 4,416 votes, while Congress gained just 404.


In Tarapur, counting of votes will be completed in 24 rounds while 22 rounds are fixed for Kusheshwar Asthan.

The district administrations of Munger and Darbhanga have deployed adequate forces at the counting centres to prevent untoward incidents.

In Tarapur, Rajiv Singh of the JD(U) is locked in a direct fight with RJD candidate Arun Saw. While in Kusheshwar Asthan, Aman Hajari of the JD(U) is contesting against Ganesh Bharti of RJD.


Meanwhile, RJD chief Lalu Prasad told the media in Patna on Tuesday that he is confident of the party's win in both the seats.

He also expressed concern over rigging at the counting centres.

"We believe that they (Nitish Kumar and JD(U) will pressurise officials to favour their candidates in both the seats. Hence, we have sent Tejashwi Yadav and Abdul Bari Siddiqqi in Kusheshwar Asthan and Jagadanand Singh and Shyam Rajak in Tarapur to closely monitor the counting," Lalu Prasad said.


The RJD has already sent a letter to the Election Commission at 12.37 a.m. on Tuesday seeking removal of tainted SDO Sanjeev Kumar Kapar who is deployed at Kusheshwar Asthan as returning officer - IANS