Crushing defeat for Congress in Bihar by-polls, its votes less than half of NOTA

New Delhi: The by-election results for 5 seats in 4 states came as a disappointment for Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the largest political party but for Congress, it turned out be another humiliating failure.

Tejashwi Yadav-led Rashtriya Janata Party (RJD) won the by-election for Bochaha Assembly seat with a decisive margin, defeating the BJP rival by a big margin. But, the astonishing fact is that Congress candidate lost his deposit and was pushed to the bottom of voting chart.

The Election Commission data shows the ignominious and embarrassing defeat for Congress, as the party has secured votes, even less than None of the Above (NOTA) category. NOTA is a polling option for the electorate, where they vote to convey that no candidate is ‘worthy enough’ to fulfil their aspirations. The number of NOTA votes are more than double of Congress numbers.

With just 1,336 votes, the grand old party ranks even below some Independent candidates as the latter have garnered more support than it.

Mukesh Sahani-led Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) though has managed to save face despite its open defiance against the BJP. With over 29,000 votes, the party has come third. VIP candidate Geeta Kumari was in the race in initial rounds but lost the competition as counting proceeded. RJD is the clear winner from this seat, with over 80,000 people casting their ballot in its favour.

RJD candidate Amar Kumar Paswan, son of former MLA Musafir Paswan defeated its closest rival Baby Kumari by a margin of over 35,000 votes. BJP fielded Baby Kumari to ruin RJD’s chances, owing to her image of giant slayer but the challenge clearly fell flat.