Over 50% turnout in bihar bypoll

Bypolls for the three seats — Araria Lok Sabha and Bhabhua and Jehanabad Assembly constituencies — were necessitated following the demise of RJD's Md Taslimuddin, BJP's Anand

Bhushan Pandey and RJD's Mundrika Yadav respectively. Brisk polling was recorded in the by-elections to two assembly and one parliamentary seats in Bihar on Sunday, with over 50% voters

exercising their franchise at 2,800 and odd polling booths in the constituencies. Bypolls for the three seats — Araria Lok Sabha and Bhabhua and Jehanabad Assembly constituencies — were

necessitated following the demise of RJD's Md Taslimuddin, BJP's Anand Bhushan Pandey and RJD's Mundrika Yadav respectively. In Araria, ex-MP Taslimuddin's son Md

Sarfaraz Alam, who resigned as a JD (U) MLA and joined RJD was pitted against BJP's Pradip Singh. The Bhabhua seat will see a fight between Pandey's widow Rinki Rani Pandey (BJP)

and Congress candidate Shambhu Patel while in Jehanabad the late MLA's son Suday Yadav was locked in a contest with JD(U)'s Abhiram Sharma. This is the first electoral battle in

Bihar following the fall of Mahagathbandhan government here in July 2017, when CM Nitish Kumar dumped the RJD-Congress combine and switched over to the BJP camp to form an NDA government in

the state. It is a litmus test for both alliances. The RJD is in fray sans its chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, who is behind the bars in a fodder scam case, though the party was successful in

getting support of former CM Jitan Ram Manjhi, who holds considerable sway in Jehanabad and Araria. For the ruling JD (U)-BJP combine, it will be a test of the NDA's unity, CM's

popularity and their governance policies. Meanwhile, an FIR was lodged against Bihar BJP chief Nityanand Rai for allegedly violating the model code of conduct when he said "Araria will

turn into an ISI hub if the RJD candidate won the seat" while campaigning in Narpatganj on March 9.