Wrong selection of candidate by BJP cost NDA Bochahan bypoll, says ally Manjhi

Wrong selection of candidate by BJP cost NDA Bochahan bypoll, says ally Manjhi

Wrong selection of candidate by the BJP cost NDA the Bochahan assembly seat in the by-election, former Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi said on Saturday.

Speaking to reporters, Manjhi, whose Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) is a part of the ruling NDA, said BJP must learn from this defeat.

''BJP should have fielded Amar Paswan as its candidate in the by-election to the Bochahan assembly seat. I must say that the wrong selection of candidate by BJP is the reason behind the defeat of the NDA in the bypoll,'' he said.

''However, even after the defeat of the BJP candidate, there is no threat to the NDA government in the state. Nitish Kumar will remain the chief minister of the state,'' Manjhi said after announcing that his son Santosh Kumar Suman would be the new national president of his party, HAM.

Manjhi said the decision was taken considering his health condition.

''From now on, my son will be the national president of HAM and I will work as its patron,'' he said. The opposition RJD in Bihar stunned the ruling NDA as its candidate Amar Paswan defeated his nearest BJP rival Baby Kumari by a staggering margin of 36,658 votes in the bypoll.

Paswan (33), who made his debut from the reserved seat last represented by his late father Musafir, polled 82,547 votes while Kumari, a former MLA who had proverbially started off as the favorite, got only 45,889 votes.

Tejashwi Yadav, who had spearheaded the RJD's high-voltage campaign for the by-election, expressed delight over the victory which raised his party's tally to 76 in the 243-strong assembly.

The RJD had won 75 seats in the 2020 assembly polls, the highest for any party, though it now has a tally one less than that of the BJP which had recently inducted three turncoat MLAs of the Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP).

Musafir Paswan had won the seat in the last election as an NDA candidate on a ticket of the Mukesh Sahani-led VIP. His death necessitated the by-election. PKD SOM SOM

Wrong selection of candidate by BJP cost NDA Bochahan bypoll, says ally Manjhi
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