Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar apparently emerged stronger today following the victory of JD(U) nominee in the by-poll to the Islampur assembly seat in Nalanda district.
Nalanda is the hometurf of Nitish. JD(U) nominee Pratima Sinha, won the by-poll by defeating UPA-backed CPI`s Rakesh Roshan, by over 9,000 votes.
The by-poll in Islampur, being held on March 11, was necessitated after the election of sitting JD(U) MLA Ram Swaroop Prasad, to the Lok Sabha from the Nalanda parliamentary constituency. Nalanda lok sabha seat was vacated by Nitish, after his election to Bihar legislative council last year.
The most significant message after JD(U)`s victory in Islampur by-poll today was perhaps that even after completing 15 months in office, the anti-incumbency factor against the ruling NDA was still not visible as this was the fourth consecutive victory by it in the by-polls under the new regime.
Last year, Nitish-led NDA had defeated the opposition in Bhagalpur and Nalanda lok sabha and Manihari assembly by-polls.
Once known as the stronghold of the left, besides CPI`s Rakesh Roshan, three other candidates including CPI-ML's Umesh Kumar, were in the fray in Islampur against JD(U)'s Pratima Sinha.
Nitish had chosen Pratima Sinha as party candidate because of his promise to empower women by making them equal stakeholders in the governance. Last year, NDA in Bihar was the first government to reserve 50 per cent seats for woman in the statewide three-tier panchayat polls.
Another interesting pointer to the consecutive victories of NDA in by-polls in the state was the gradual shift of the mythical Muslim votes of RJD supremo Lalu Prasad to Nitish.
This was particularly evident in the victory of NDA in the minority dominated Bhagalpur lok sabha seat and Manihari assembly seat last year. In the minority dominated Manihari assembly seat, the Congress was shocked to loose it to JD(U) last year. The Congress never had lost this seat since independence.
The shift of minority votes, besides consolidation of votes from the majority, in favour of Nitish seemed to be primarily because of a number of development initiatives undertaken by him for the mainstreaming of the Muslims.
Besides, Nitish never treated Muslims as a vote bank. Nor he ignored them despite his association with the BJP. He already reopened some old cases in the infamous Bhagalpur riot of 1989 under then Congress government claiming over 1,000 lives to do justice to the minority.
Even though RJD supremo Lalu Prasad, often referred him as the "messiah " for the Muslims, it was Nitish who first had raised the issue for the reservation of dalit Muslims on the lines of SC and ST of Hindus. The Congress too now supports this demand.
A jubilant Nitish, after the victory chose to dedicate it to the people of Bihar for reposing confidence on him for the promised turnaround of the state as a developed one by 2015.
Nalanda is the hometurf of Nitish. JD(U) nominee Pratima Sinha, won the by-poll by defeating UPA-backed CPI`s Rakesh Roshan, by over 9,000 votes.
The by-poll in Islampur, being held on March 11, was necessitated after the election of sitting JD(U) MLA Ram Swaroop Prasad, to the Lok Sabha from the Nalanda parliamentary constituency. Nalanda lok sabha seat was vacated by Nitish, after his election to Bihar legislative council last year.
The most significant message after JD(U)`s victory in Islampur by-poll today was perhaps that even after completing 15 months in office, the anti-incumbency factor against the ruling NDA was still not visible as this was the fourth consecutive victory by it in the by-polls under the new regime.
Last year, Nitish-led NDA had defeated the opposition in Bhagalpur and Nalanda lok sabha and Manihari assembly by-polls.
Once known as the stronghold of the left, besides CPI`s Rakesh Roshan, three other candidates including CPI-ML's Umesh Kumar, were in the fray in Islampur against JD(U)'s Pratima Sinha.
Nitish had chosen Pratima Sinha as party candidate because of his promise to empower women by making them equal stakeholders in the governance. Last year, NDA in Bihar was the first government to reserve 50 per cent seats for woman in the statewide three-tier panchayat polls.
Another interesting pointer to the consecutive victories of NDA in by-polls in the state was the gradual shift of the mythical Muslim votes of RJD supremo Lalu Prasad to Nitish.
This was particularly evident in the victory of NDA in the minority dominated Bhagalpur lok sabha seat and Manihari assembly seat last year. In the minority dominated Manihari assembly seat, the Congress was shocked to loose it to JD(U) last year. The Congress never had lost this seat since independence.
The shift of minority votes, besides consolidation of votes from the majority, in favour of Nitish seemed to be primarily because of a number of development initiatives undertaken by him for the mainstreaming of the Muslims.
Besides, Nitish never treated Muslims as a vote bank. Nor he ignored them despite his association with the BJP. He already reopened some old cases in the infamous Bhagalpur riot of 1989 under then Congress government claiming over 1,000 lives to do justice to the minority.
Even though RJD supremo Lalu Prasad, often referred him as the "messiah " for the Muslims, it was Nitish who first had raised the issue for the reservation of dalit Muslims on the lines of SC and ST of Hindus. The Congress too now supports this demand.
A jubilant Nitish, after the victory chose to dedicate it to the people of Bihar for reposing confidence on him for the promised turnaround of the state as a developed one by 2015.
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