The by-poll, held on December 14, was necessitated following disqualification of AJSU leader Kamal Kishore Bhagat after he was sentenced to jail for five years in connection with an attack on a doctor in 1993. Niru Shanti is his wife.
The one-year-old BJP government in Jharkhand tasted its first defeat when its candidate Niru Shanti Bhagat lost to Congress aspirant Sukhdeo Bhagat by 23,228 votes in the Lohardaga Assembly by-election on Thursday.
While Congress candidate Sukhdeo Bhagat, who is also the state PCC chief, polled 73,859 votes, Niru Shanti Bhagat of AJSU, an NDA constituent, bagged 50,571 votes. Former Jharkhand Minister Bandhu Tirkey of Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik) finished third with 16,551 votes, election commission officials said.
The by-poll, held on December 14, was necessitated following disqualification of AJSU leader Kamal Kishore Bhagat after he was sentenced to jail for five years in connection with an attack on a doctor in 1993. Niru Shanti is his wife.
The Secretary of Jharkhand Pradesh Congress Committee (JPCC) S R A Rizvi Chabban on Thursday expressed confidence that the victory of JPCC president Sukhdeo Bhagat in the Lohardaga (ST) Assembly by-election will help the party to improve its position in the state. In a statement issued, Chabban said the victory of Bhagat would help the party to improve its status in the state and also provide a right direction to the party.
"The bypoll verdict has clearly indicated that the people of the state have lost faith in the one-year-old Raghubar Das-headed NDA government and want a change in the state," he said.
Taking a dig at former the Chief Minister Babulal Marandi-led Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik), Chabban said the Lohardaga result was a lesson for the JVM(P), which was direction less in the state, and it should rethink about its future policies for its survival.
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