Congress wrests Bhagalpur assembly seat from BJP

The Congress Monday wrested the Bhagalpur assembly seat in Bihar from the BJP after 23 years.

Ajit Sharma of the Congress was declared the winner by 8,000 votes over Nabhay Choudhary of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The by-poll was caused by the resignation of former minister Ashwani Kumar Choubey, who was elected to Lok Sabha from Buxar parliamentary seat on a BJP ticket.

"It is a big win for Congress as party has defeated the BJP, which was winning the seat since 1990," state Congress president Ashok Choudhary said.

The Congress contested the by-polls in alliance with the RJD of Lalu Prasad and the ruling JD-U.

The BJP contested by-polls in an alliance with Lok Janshakti Party of union minister Ram Vilas Paswan and Rashtriya Lok Samata Party of union minister Upendra Kushwaha.

Interestingly, it is another setback for the BJP after past Lok Sabha polls in which Shahwanawaz Hussain lost to Bulo Mandal of the RJD from Bhagalpur parliamentary seat despite the Narendra Modi wave.

Bhagalpur, an urban centre, was considered a stronghold of the BJP for over two decades. But this myth has been busted first in the Lok Sabha polls and then the assembly by polls.

The alliance of Lalu Prasad's RJD , Nitish Kumar's JD-U and the Congress in Bihar has won four assembly seats and is leading on two.

The BJP-led alliance has won two seats and is leading on two.

Out of these 10 assembly seats, the BJP had won six, the RJD three and the JD-U one in the last assembly elections in 2010.