With 53% turnout and amid tight security, the Assembly by-poll in Jokihat passed off peacefully on Monday. Barring four booths where voters boycotted the poll over local issues, no untoward incident was reported from anywhere in the constituency.
With deployment of police and paramilitary forces at all 331 polling booths, the district administration ensured free and fair election in the constituency.
At booth nos 215, 215(A), 216 and 216(A) under Mahalgaon police station limits, people did not vote, demanding construction of road and bridges damaged in their area during floods last year.
The by-poll was necessitated after the sitting MLA Sarfaraj Alam vacated the seat to contest the Araria Lok Sabha by-poll.
The Lok Sabha seat fell vacant after the death of Mr. Alam’s father and RJD MP Mohd Taslimuddin.
Earlier, Mohd Taslimuddin had represented the Jokihat Assembly seat five times while his second son Sarfaraj Alam had bagged the seat four times.
The ruling party JD(U) fielded former village head Murshid Alam while the Opposition put up Shahnawaj Alam, younger brother of Sarfaraj Alam in the constituency.
Independent MP from Madhepura, Pappu Yadav’s party Jan Adhikar Party (JAP) fielded Ghousul Azam for the seat.
9 candidates in fray
A total of nine candidates were in the fray but the main contest was between the RJD and JD(U).
Nearly 70% of the voters in the constituency are from the minority community. Among the rest Hindu voters from the OBC (Other Backward Class) Mandal and Yadav castes are dominant.
Banking on its traditional M-Y (Muslims and Yadav) voters and his family’s political legacy, the RJD candidate Shahnawaj Alam appeared confident of winning the seat while, the JD(U) candidate, despite his criminal past, is banking on Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s development agenda to bag the seat.
The result will be out on May 31. Leader of the Opposition and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav alleged that Mr. Nitish Kumar was “playing all dirty tricks to influence the elections but still will face defeat.”
53% in Tharali
Over 53% polling was recorded in the bypolls to the Tharali Assembly seat in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district. By the end of the day, 53.43% voters had cast their votes, District Information Officer in charge of the election control room, G.S. Bisht, said. Though largely peaceful, the bypoll was boycotted at Devsari village in the Dewal area by voters to protest against their demand for a road not being fulfilled, he said. Polling for the reserved (SC) seat went at a slow pace initially. Only 26 per cent voters had cast their votes by 1 PM. However, it picked up a little late in the afternoon with 40.5 poll percentage recorded by 3 PM, Bisht said.
(With PTI inputs)
