Bihar by-election: Congress fails Kanhaiya factor, deposits confiscated in both seats

- Even before the Bihar elections, the Congress had inducted CPI leader and former JNU Vidyarthi Sangh president Kanhaiya Kumar into the party.

New delhi date. Wednesday, November 03, 2021

In the by-elections to the Kusheshwarsthan and Tarapur assembly constituencies in Bihar, the Congress announced the break-up of its alliance with the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and withdrew its candidates from both the seats amid stern statements. Now, however, the result has come. In the by-elections, the ruling Janata Dal United (JDU) retained both seats. The RJD clashed with the JDU in both the seats. The new party Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) and Chirag Paswan with new election targets fielded their own candidates. Chirag's party is third from both the seats and the Congress is in the worst position.

Candidates contesting from the Congress have failed to save their deposits even if they win. Deposits of Congress candidates have been confiscated. Pretending to contest elections alone in Bihar, the Congress could not even get the required votes to save the deposit. In terms of votes, the Congress party was in a worse position than Chirag Paswan's party.

As per the rules, any candidate has to get 16.66 per cent of the total votes to save his deposit. From Kusheshwarasthan seat, Congress candidate Atirek Kumar got 4.27 per cent votes while Tarapur seat candidate Rajesh Mishra got only 2.10 per cent votes. On an average, the party got only 3 per cent of the vote.

Even before the Bihar elections, the Congress had inducted CPI leader and former JNU student body president Kanhaiya Kumar into the party. After Kanhaiya's induction into the party, the confidence of the Bihar Congress increased to such an extent that it decided to break the alliance with the RJD and fielded anti-RJD candidates in both the seats. Kanhaiya was launched in Bihar as well as in the field for publicity. Kanhaiya campaigned for 3-3 days in both the constituencies but even that factor did not work for the Congress. In the 2020 assembly elections, Rajesh Mishra, an independent candidate from Tarapur, got 10,400 votes.