Patna, Apr 16 (PTI) Counting is underway for the by-election to the Bochahan assembly seat in Bihar's Muzaffarpur district, officials said.

A total of 2.90 lakh voters will decide the fate of 13 candidates, three of them women, in the by-election held on April 12.

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The counting exercise began at 8 am amid tight security, they said.

By-poll to the seat was necessitated by the death of MLA Musafir Paswan, who had won on the ticket of Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) of Bollywood set designer-turned-politician Mukesh Sahani.

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Sahani, who initially wanted to field the deceased MLA's son Amar, recently lost his ministerial berth, and subsequently the trust of his prospective candidate. Amar jumped ship and is now in the fray as the candidate of the RJD, which his father had defeated to win the seat.

The VIP has now fielded Gita Devi, whose father Ramai Ram was the RJD candidate in the 2020 assembly polls.

The BJP, the former benefactor of Sahani which now seeks to prove a point after having got his scalp, has fielded Baby Kumari who enjoys the image of a “giant killer” in the constituency.

She had won the seat in 2015, contesting as an Independent, defeating Ramai Ram who had represented Bochahan multiple times and on tickets of various parties. Also in the fray are the Congress, four Independents and candidates of lesser parties, including AIMIM of Asaduddin Owaisi.

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