Besides Rupauli, bypolls will also be held in Ramgarh, Belaganj, Tarari, and Imamganj assembly seats of Bihar to fill vacancies that have arisen after the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections.
The Rupauli seat was vacated by Bima Bharti, who resigned as JD(U) MLA and joined the RJD to contest the Lok Sabha poll from Purnea. Voting for the Rupauli bypoll is slated for July 10.
Of the remaining four constituencies where bypolls will be conducted, the Mahagathbandhan had won three — Ramgarh (RJD), Belaganj (RJD), and Tarari (CPI-ML) — in the 2020 Assembly elections.
RJD’s Ramgarh MLA Sudhakar Singh has won the Lok Sabha election from Buxar, RJD MLA from Belaganj Surendra Yadav won in Jahanabad, and CPI-ML’s Tarari MLA Sudama Prasad has won from Arrah Lok Sabha seat.
Hindustani Awam Morcha-Secular (HAM-S) chief and Imamganj MLA Jitan Ram Manjhi has won the Gaya Lok Sabha seat.
It is likely the RJD will field Sudhkar Singh’s younger brother Ajit Singh from Ramgarh. Ajit Singh was formerly in the JD(U). In the Yadav-dominated Belaganj assembly seat, Surendra Yadav’s son Vishwanath Yadav is preparing to contest by poll on the RJD ticket.
Mahagathbandhan sources have hinted that like in 2020, the Tarari assembly seat will be again contested by a CPI-ML candidate.
For Imamganj, it is being said that Jitan Ram Manjhi’s younger son Praveen Manjhi is staking claim.
RJD spokesperson Mritunjay Tiwari has said that the Mahagathbandhan will win all five assembly seats in the bypolls.
“RJD is always ready for elections. Four members of the Bihar Legislative Assembly have won the Lok Sabha elections this time, out of which three are from the INDIA bloc,” he said.
BJP spokesperson Arvind Kumar Singh has said that no one can claim a stronghold on any seat. “In a democracy, the people have the power and they are with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar because of their development works. The NDA will win all five seats of the bypolls and there is no doubt about it,” he added.