The NDA secured a comfortable victory in the Bihar Rajya Sabha polls, winning all five seats. Leaders hailed the win as a sign of unity, while the RJD alleged horse trading after some of its alliance MLAs abstained from voting.
JD(U) National Working President and MP Sanjay Kumar Jha hailed NDA's victory in all five Rajya Sabha seats from Bihar. Speaking to reporters, Sanjay Jha said, "We've been saying from the beginning that based on support, our candidates will comfortably win all five seats. The NDA didn't have much of a problem with the numbers game, and the results were consistent. There's a lot of work ahead in Bihar, so many people want work done in their areas."
BJP Calls Win a Sign of Opposition 'Fragmentation'
Earlier, Bihar BJP President Sanjay Saraogi deemed it a "big victory" for NDA, which he said displayed their unity and "fragmentation" of the Opposition. "This is a big victory for NDA. NDA is united, and the opposition is fragmented...they had no faith in their MLAs...the whole of Bihar is with NDA. NDA fought the election unitedly, and we won all five seats," Saraogi said.
Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Kumar Sinha said the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) won all five Rajya Sabha seats of the state and said that the party's victory has disappointed the opposition. Speaking to ANI after the result, Sinha said, "All five seats have been won by NDA...The NDA's victory has disappointed the opposition even more...All five NDA candidates have won in Bihar...Their people did not come to vote. These people (the opposition) make allegations when they lose."
Abstentions and Allegations of Horse Trading
Abstention from Congress and RJD MLAs helped the NDA secure all five seats in the Rajya Sabha. NDA had fielded Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, BJP National President Nitin Nabin, RLM Chief Upendra Kushwaha, JD(U) MP Ram Nath Thakur and BJP's Shivesh Ram.
Reacting to the results, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) Rajya Sabha MP Amarendra Dhari Singh alleged horse trading in the voting. "We have lost despite winning. We had the numbers. Horse trading has happened in this, and the four voters who did not come were from our alliance," he said.
National Election Context
The biennial Rajya Sabha elections were held to fill 37 seats across 10 states. Out of the 37 seats, 26 candidates have already been elected unopposed, while voting was held for the remaining 11 seats, including five from Bihar. (ANI)
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)