JD(U)'s Kaladhar Prasad Mandal Leads in Rupauli By-Election

JD(U) candidate Kaladhar Prasad Mandal is leading by 501 votes over independent rival Shankar Singh in the Rupauli Assembly seat by-election in Bihar's Purnea district. The counting of votes commenced at 8 am following the resignation of former MLA Bima Bharti, who is now contesting for RJD.

JD(U)'s Kaladhar Prasad Mandal is leading by 501 votes over his nearest rival, an independent candidate, in the Rupauli Assembly by-election in Bihar's Purnea district, according to the Election Commission of India.

After the sixth round of counting, the JD(U) candidate secured 32,209 votes, while independent candidate Shankar Singh got 31,708 votes, according to the latest information uploaded on the Election Commission's website.

RJD's Bima Bharti, who resigned as the sitting MLA and switched parties to contest the by-election, is in the third position with 16,919 votes after six rounds of counting. The counting of votes commenced at 8 am.

The by-election was necessitated by the resignation of sitting MLA Bima Bharti, who had won the seat for JD(U) several times but quit the party recently to contest the Lok Sabha election on an RJD ticket. Following her loss in the parliamentary election, she contested the bypoll as an RJD candidate.