The bypoll in Mokama was necessitated by the disqualification of RJD MLA Anant Kumar Singh.
In Mokama, Singh’s wife Neelam Devi defeated her nearest BJP rival by a comfortable margin of more than 16,000 votes. She polled 79,744 votes while BJP’s Sonam Devi got 63,003.
Singh got disqualified in July this year after conviction by a Patna court in a case related to recovery of arms and explosives from his residence.
In Gopalganj, BJP candidate Kusum Devi, wife of MLA Subhash Singh whose death had necessitated the byelection, polled 70,032 votes, while RJD’s Mohan Gupta got 68,243.
Asaduddin Owaisi’s AIMIM and Mayawati’s BSP, often accused of being the BJP’s “B team” by the RJD, finished third and fourth respectively in Gopalganj byelection, together accounting for more than 20,000 votes.
Notably, BSP candidate Indira Yadav is the wife of Sadhu Yadav, the younger brother of RJD president Lalu Prasad’s wife Rabri Devi.
Sadhu Yadav had won the seat in 2000.
Yadav has been disqualified from contesting polls after conviction in a case related to misbehavior with an IAS officer.
(With inputs from PTI)
