Bihar bypolls:Tej Pratap backs Congress in Kusheshwar

In Bihar,Tej Pratap's sudden decision has put the RJD in a fix and has made the by election fight interesting..Tej Pratap Yadav has declared that he will campaign for Congress candidate Atirek Kumar in the Kusheshwar Asthan assembly by-polls. Tej Pratap has announced that the newly floated Chhatra Janshakti Parishad(CJP) will campaign for Congress in Kusheshwar Asthan but will campaign for the RJD in Tarapur assembly seat. Bypolls at both the assembly seats will be held on October 30. CJP state president Prashant Pratap Yaday said by supporting Congress, Tej was following the coalition dharma. “The Congress-RJD alliance had been made by Lalu ji and Tej Pratap is trying to carry forward this relation. Few in the RJD have made a mistake by not  allowing Congress to fight from Kusheshwar Asthan,” said Prashant Yadav.

The assembly polls were fought by the RJD and the Congress together. For the by-poll, RJD came out with an early announcement of candidates for both the seats much to the shock of the Congress, which was hoping to fight Kusheshwar Asthan with the support of its mightier ally.  Now, the announcement of  Tej Pratap has put  in a major embarrassment for RJD leader Tejaswi Yadav. Experts sees Tej Pratap's declaration of support for the Congress candidate is an open rebellion against the party and is likely to earn him disciplinary action.

Meanwhile, altogether 17 candidates are left in the fray for the by-election to Tarapur and Kusheshwar Asthan assembly seats in Bihar on the last date for withdrawal of nomination papers on Saturday. The ruling NDA seeks to retain both the seats, which have fallen vacant after the death of their MLAs, faced with a feeble challenge put up by a scattered opposition. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s JD(U), which had won both the seats in the assembly poll in 2020, has fielded candidates for Tarapur as well as the reserved Kusheshwar Asthan seats.