Jharkhand elections: RJD emerges as surprise element, bags 4 out of 6 seats it contested

Siwan Bihar Lok Sabha Elections 2024 - a file photo of Hena Shahab, candidate from Siwan with RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav (Photo - PTI)

The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) has emerged as a surprise element in the Jharkhand assembly elections with its candidates winning in four of the six seats where the party had contested.

RJD candidates defeated sitting BJP legislators in four assembly seats. In 2019, the RJD managed to win only the Chatra seat where Satyanand Bhokta had won.

Weeks before the polls, RJD state president Sanjay Singh Yadav expressed dissatisfaction with the seat-sharing arrangement, stating that the party was not receiving adequate representation.

This time, in Deoghar, RJD’s Suresh Paswan won by 39,721 votes over his nearest rival and BJP's sitting MLA Narayan Das.RJD’s Sanjay Prasad Yadav registered a comfortable win by 21,471 votes in Godda over BJP MLA Amit Kumar Mandal.

Party candidate Naresh Prasad Singh won by 14,587 votes over BJP’s Bishrampur MLA Ramchandra Chandravanshi.RJD's Sanjay Kumar Singh Yadav registered a victory from Hussainabad by 34,364 votes over BJP’s MLA Kamlesh Kumar Singh.

In Koderma, RJD nominee Subhash Prasad Yadav, who was leading in early trends, was defeated by a margin of 5,815 votes by BJP’s sitting legislator Neera Yadav.

Subhas Prasad Yadav, considered to be one of the close aides of RJD supremo Lalu Prasad, was recently granted bail by the Supreme Court in a money laundering case. Party candidate Rashmi Prakash also lost to LJP (Ram Vilas)’s Janardan Paswan from the Chatra seat by 18,401 votes. Bhokta did not contest the elections this time, and his daughter-in-law Prakash was given a ticket.