Bihar By-Poll Battle Heats Up in Rupauli Assembly Seat

Voters in Bihar's Rupauli assembly seat will decide the fate of 11 candidates in a by-poll necessitated by the resignation of Bima Bharti. Bharti is contesting as an RJD candidate against JD(U)'s Kaladhar Prasad Mandal and Independent Shankar Singh. Results will be announced on Saturday.

The stage is set for a heated by-poll to the Rupauli assembly seat in Bihar on Wednesday when the fate of 11 candidates will be decided by more than three lakh voters.

The by-poll was necessitated by the resignation of sitting MLA Bima Bharti, who is contesting the by-election as the RJD candidate.

Bharti resigned a few months ago when she quit the JD(U) headed by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. She had contested the Lok Sabha polls from Purnea but suffered a significant loss.

The JD(U), which had fielded Bharti from Rupauli thrice, has given its ticket to Kaladhar Prasad Mandal, a newcomer to the party who had contested the 2020 assembly polls from Rupauli as an Independent.

Complicating the electoral equation is former MLA Shankar Singh, the runner-up of 2020, who quit the LJP (Ram Vilas) headed by Union Minister Chirag Paswan to contest as an Independent.

Paswan and other NDA allies, Union Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, and BJP leaders canvassed for Mandal in the by-election, boosting the JD(U) candidate's prospects.

The RJD hopes Bharti will secure the seat she first won on its ticket in 2005, before later crossing over to JD(U). Her prospects have been bolstered by Independent MP Pappu Yadav, who announced his full support for her.

Singh aims to benefit from the divided votes, particularly among the numerically strong Gangotas, an OBC group to which both Mandal and Bharti belong.

The total number of electors in the constituency is 3.13 lakh, with voting set to take place at 321 polling stations, 291 of which are in rural areas.

The counting of votes will take place on Saturday.

(With inputs from agencies.)