INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
The outcome in Jokihat, many believe, will be a test of Chief Minister's popularity.Jokihat, Bihar:
The
RJD led by Tejaswi Yadav today wrested Jokihat in Bihar from Nitish Kumar's party, scoring another point in his prestige battle with the
Chief Minister who dumped his party last year.Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal United (JDU) had gone all out in the constituency, where the party's
lawmaker had quit and joined the RJD after Mr Kumar joined hands with the BJP last year
The party lost by over 40,000 votes to the RJD.This is the third success for the RJD under the leadership of Tejaswi Yadav, the 28-year-old
who took charge of the party after his father, former Chief Minister Lalu Yadav, was jailed for corruption
The party had earlier won Jehanabad and Araria
"My chacha (uncle) Nitish Kumar used money and might but couldn't retain his seat
This is the victory of Laluvaad (Lalu's ideology) over avsarvaad (opportunism)," Tejaswi told reporters, adding that Mr Kumar lost despite
using government machinery."Nitish Kumar was never able to understand Laluji, my father," said Yadav junior.Nitish Kumar enlisted half his
cabinet and all his political aides in this one assembly seat in east Bihar, 300 km from capital Patna
Many had seen Jokihat as a big test of the Chief Minister's popularity and his political capital.Sarfaraz Alam, who was JDU's lawmaker in
Jokihat, quit his party after Nitish Kumar swapped allies and resurrected his alliance with the BJP
He contested the recent election from the Araria Lok Sabha seat in March and won.The RJD has fielded Sarfaraz Alam's younger brother,
Shahnawaz Alam.JDU candidate Murshid Alam has seven criminal cases registered against him including one of gang-rape
In another case, the police had allegedly recovered idols stolen from temples from his house.Tejaswi Yadav also thanked parties like the
Samajwadi Party, Congress and Mayawati's BSP, referencing much talked about opposition unity to "save democracy".
