Both Nitish & Tejashwi will campaign in Kurhani by-poll: Bihar JD(U) Chief

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his deputy, Tejashwi Yadav, will campaign for JD (U) candidate Manoj Singh Kushwaha in the December 5 by-poll to the Kurhani assembly constituency in Bihar's Muzaffarpur district.

Talking to reporters here on Friday, Bihar JD (U) President Umesh Singh Kushwaha claimed that the 'Mahagathbandhan' (Grand Alliance) candidate will win with a huge margin.

"The Kurhani by-poll is one-sided and the Mahagathbandhan's candidate Kushwaha will win with a huge margin. He has the support of the seven-parties of Grand Alliance. Both the CM and the Deputy CM will campaign for Kushwaha. We will soon announce the dates of their campaign," the JD(U) state president said.

Nitish Kumar did not go out for campaigning for RJD candidates due to his injuries received in a steamer mishap in the recently concluded by-polls for Mokama and Gopalganj assembly seats. Kumar, however, sent his video message in favour of the RJD nominees: Neelam Devi (Mokama) and Mohan Prasad Gupta (Gopalganj).

A total of 21 candidates have filed nomination papers for the byelection to be held on December 5 in the Kurhani assembly constituency.

The counting of votes will take place on December 8. The by-poll to the Kurhani seat was necessitated after the disqualification of sitting RJD MLA Anil Sahni, who has been convicted and sentenced to three years in jail in a case of fraud probed by the CBI.

BJP has fielded Kedar Prasad Gupta against JD(U)'s Kushwaha, the two-time MLA from the constituency. Gupta had lost to RJD's Anil Kumar Sahni by over 700 votes in the 2020 assembly polls. This time, however, RJD has spared this seat for ally JD(U).

Two smaller parties - VIP and AIMM - having significant influence over their respective community voters, have also joined the fray against BJP and JD(U).

While the Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) has fielded Nilabh Kumar, the All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) has fielded Mohammad Ghulam Murtaza, a former member of All India Momin Conference.