India

BJP’s Narendra Prasad Singh Wins Tirhut Teachers’ Seat in Bihar MLC Elections

By Ruchir Kumar

BJP candidate Narendra Prasad Singh secured the Tirhut Teachers’ seat in the Bihar Legislative Council elections, receiving 2,945 votes, including 594 first‑preference votes. He defeated independent Bhushan Jha, who garnered 2,351 votes, and sitting MLC Sanjay Kumar Singh of the CPI, who came third with 1,967 votes. Singh had been the runner‑up in the 2020 Tirhut Teachers’ polls.

In the Kosi Graduates’ constituency, BJP’s Dr Narendra Kumar Yadav led with 2,396 first‑preference votes, ahead of JSP’s Rajneesh Ranjan (1,608 votes) and RJD’s Nitesh Kumar (1,410 votes). BJP’s Nawal Kishore Yadav also topped the Patna Teachers’ constituency, surpassing RJD’s Dr Sanjeev Singh.

The Patna Graduates’ contest was closely contested, with JD(U) MLC Neeraj Kumar leading by a narrow margin over RJD’s Dilip Kumar, while JSP’s Anuj Singh trailed in third place. The contest highlighted internal tensions within JD(U), as MLA Anant Singh was suspended for six years after campaigning against Kumar.

In the Darbhanga Teachers’ constituency, JSP’s Suresh Prasad Rai led over Congress’s defending MLC Madan Mohan Jha. A dispute between counting agents of Rai and Jha over mobile phone use led to police detaining both agents.

Independent Rahul Raj topped the Saran Teachers’ constituency with 2,723 votes, ahead of JD(U)’s Anand Pushkar (2,440 votes). JSP’s Afaque Ahmad trailed in third place.

Voter turnout varied across constituencies: graduate voters in Patna (59.56%), Darbhanga (54.73%), Tirhut (48.51%) and Kosi (54.73%) had an overall turnout of 53.42%. Teachers’ constituencies in Patna (74.75%), Saran (89.05%), Tirhut (82.99%) and Darbhanga (85.87%) recorded an overall turnout of 82.85%.

Counting began at 8 a.m. on Tuesday, with ballots used in the polls. The eight seats cover four graduate and four teacher constituencies, with a combined electorate of over 532,000 voters. Polling took place on October 23 across 933 stations. Counting locations included the Bihar School Examination Board’s regional office in Purnea for Kosi graduates, SVN Rajkiya Kanya Uchcha Madhyamik Vidyalaya for Saran teachers, and the MIT administrative block in Muzaffarpur for both Tirhut seats. Final results were expected by Wednesday evening.