Jokihat Assembly Seat | Bihar By-Elections 2018 | Last Results, Reason For Bypoll, Candidates in Fray, Date of Voting & Result
The bypoll results is awaited by pollsters across the nation as it would reflect the mood of Bihar ahead of the crucial Lok Sabha elections next year. It's also a test for Bihar CM Nitish Kumar.
Patna, May 27: By-elections for the assembly seat of Jokihat in Araria district of Bihar will be held on Monday, May 28. Jokihat is an assembly constituency in the state of Bihar. The Jokihat constituency is a Muslim dominated seat as 70% of the electorate are Muslims. And this is precisely the reason why Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had made this seat a matter of pride. CM Nitish wants to prove that his influence in the minority community in Bihar is still intact despite joining hands with BJP after breaking away from the Mahagathbandhan that comprised Congress and RJD along with Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal (United).
The Janata Dal(U) has won the seat four times and retained it since 2005. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and almost all of his important Ministers of the Cabinet have campaigned intensively.
Date of Voting and Results: The voting for the Jokihat assembly seat will take place on Monday, May 28. The counting of the votes will happen on Thursday, May 31 and the winner will be declared.
Last Results: The Jokihat seat was won by Sarfaraz Alam thrice. In the year 2000, he won it from RJD party. Then he joined the Janata Dal (United) and won the seat again in the 2010 and 2015 elections.
Reason for Bypoll: Sarfaraz Alam had won the seat in 2015 under JD(U) but resigned after Nitish Kumar broke away with the Mahagathbandhan. Sarfaraz Alam had joined the RJD again in February 2018 and vacated the Jokihat seat after his father, Mohammed Taslimuddin, who was the Member of Parliament from Arariya seat passed away. Sarfaraz Alam was given the ticket to fight the parliamentary byelections from Arariya which he won for RJD. Hence the seat fell vacant.
Candidates in Fray: Overall there are nine candidates fighting the election from the seat. But the main contest is between the JD(U), which has won the seat four times and the Rashtiya Janata Dal (RJD). The RJD has given the ticket to Mohammed Taslimuddin's younger son and Sarfaraz Alam's younger brother Shahnawaz Alam. The JD(U) has given the ticket to Murshid Alam, who has several criminal cases against him. The contest is believed to be between the two.
The Jokihat assembly bypoll elections have assumed greater importance for Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. For the RJD, it's the question of retaining the legacy of Mohammed Taslimuddin who had huge influence on the region. Recently, RJD's Tejashwi Yadav, the leader of the opposition, had attracted more crowd at his rally than CM Nitish Kumar.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 27, 2018 06:11 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).