Araria: Tejashwi Yadav, a first-time legislator in Bihar, proved to be a worthy stand-in for his jailed father Lalu Yadav today as his RJD held onto two seats it had won in alliance with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar the previous time.
Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal United last year ditched Lalu Yadav and Congress and reunited with the BJP.
The bypolls in the Araria parliamentary seat and the Jehanabad and Bhabua assembly seats were the first since Nitish Kumar swapped partners.
RJD has retained Araria and Jehanabad and the BJP has retained Bhabua.
The status quo signals a triumph for Tejashwi Yadav, 28.
"This is no ordinary victory. Those who were saying that 'Laluji ab Khatam Ho gaye' have been given a reply. Laluji is an ideology. That ideology has won today," he told reporters.
The bypolls were seen as a test of Tejashwi's leadership skills in the absence of father and party chief Lalu Yadav, who is in jail for corruption and did not lead a poll campaign of the party for the first time in two decades.
"The people want the mahagatbandhan (grand alliance) at the national level...political parties should set aside their egos to fight a larger battle," he said on his party's performance.
In Jehanabad, the RJD's Krishna Mohan - he is the son of lawmaker Mundrika Singh Yadav whose death left the seat vacant - defeated the Janata dal United's Abhiram Singh by a huge margin. The victory indicates that upper caste groups like Bhumihars and Brahmins have moved from the JDU towards the RJD.
In Araria, the RJD was able to retain the support of the significant Muslim-Yadav section.
Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal United last year ditched Lalu Yadav and Congress and reunited with the BJP.
The bypolls in the Araria parliamentary seat and the Jehanabad and Bhabua assembly seats were the first since Nitish Kumar swapped partners.
The status quo signals a triumph for Tejashwi Yadav, 28.
"This is no ordinary victory. Those who were saying that 'Laluji ab Khatam Ho gaye' have been given a reply. Laluji is an ideology. That ideology has won today," he told reporters.
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"The people want the mahagatbandhan (grand alliance) at the national level...political parties should set aside their egos to fight a larger battle," he said on his party's performance.
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In Araria, the RJD was able to retain the support of the significant Muslim-Yadav section.
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