Ticket aspirants present case to top leadership ahead of bypolls for 4 seats in Bihar

Patna: The bypolls for Imamganj, Belaganj, Tarari and Ramgarh Assembly constituencies in Bihar will take place soon and aspirants for the seats are presenting their case before their party leadership.

These seats fell vacant after Jitan Ram Manjhi, Surendra Yadav, Sudama Prasad and Sudhakar Singh won the Lok Sabha elections from Gaya, Jahanabad, Arrah and Buxar respectively.

Except for Imamganj, the other three seats were won earlier by the Grand Alliance candidates.

Jitan Ram Manjhi was elected in the 2020 Assembly poll from the Imamganj seat.

This seat is likely to go to Jitan Ram Manjhi’s HAM(S) and it would be no surprise if someone from his family contests the bye-election.

While there is no debate in the NDA regarding this seat, the RJD is looking for a strong candidate to penetrate Manjhi’s stronghold.

The Belaganj Assembly seat was vacated by Surendra Yadav after he won the Lok Sabha poll.

Surendra Yadav has won Assembly elections from this seat many times and his son is likely to contest from here on a RJD ticket.

The JD(U) is looking for a strong candidate for this seat and Mohammad Aftab presented his case before the party by meeting Cabinet Minister Vijay Kumar Chaudhary in this regard.

“I have been working for the party since 2013 and the people of Belaganj want me to contest. I met Vijay Kumar Chaudhary regarding this seat and he assured me,” Aftab said.

The Tarari Assembly seat was won by Sudama Prasad in the 2020 elections on a CPI(ML) ticket and is considered a stronghold of the party.

Hence, it is most likely that a CPI(ML) candidate will contest from here.

Sudama Prasad defeated RK Singh from the Arrah Lok Sabha seat.

The Ramgarh Assembly seat became vacant after Sudhakar Singh won the Lok Sabha poll from Buxar this year. He is the son of RJD state President Jagadanand Singh and hence it is likely that Sudhakar Singh's younger brother may contest the Assembly bypoll from Ramgarh.

While the Grand Alliance candidates are almost known in Belaganj, Tarari and Ramgarh, it will be a challenge for the NDA to select strong candidates for these seats.

This is the reason why aspirants are making a beeline for the offices of the JD(U) and BJP in Patna.

“Before every election, aspirants present their case before the party. As usual the selection of candidates will be done by the top leaders of the party,” said Neeraj Kumar, MLC and chief spokesperson of JD(U).

For the Grand Alliance, the Imamganj seat is a major challenge.

“The Grand Alliance will select strong candidates to defeat the NDA on all four seats and we will also contest on the Rupauli seat and win all five seats,” said Mrityunjay Tiwari, spokesperson of the RJD.

The bye-election on the Rupauli seat will be held on July 10 and Bima Bharti is the RJD candidate on this seat.

This seat fell vacant after Bima Bharti resigned from the post of MLA to contest the Lok Sabha polls.