Campaign ended on Tuesday for by-polls to Gopalganj and Mokama assembly seats of Bihar — the first electoral test for the Nitish Kumar-led ‘Mahagathbandhan’ government, formed less than three months ago.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who remained conspicuous by his absence during campaigns owing to “injuries suffered in a recent mishap”, issued a video message urging people of Mokama to vote for Rashtriya Janata Dal candidate Neelam Devi, whose husband Anant Singh’s disqualification necessitated the by-poll to the seat.
Gold Rate
17 June 2025
Deputy CM and RJD heir apparent Tejashwi Yadav, however, led from the front as he addressed rallies in Mokama as well as in Gopalganj, situated in his eponymous native district and which he seeks to wrest from the Bharatiya Janata Party that bagged it for four consecutive terms.
The BJP has fielded Kusum Devi, wife of four-term MLA Subhash Singh, whose death necessitated the by-poll in Gopalganj.
Yadav, whose campaign for RJD’s Gopanlganj candidate Mohan Gupta was peppered with caustic attacks on the BJP, also took potshots at the saffron party’s ‘B team’, an allusion to his own aunt Indira Yadav who is in the fray on a BSP ticket, and Asaduddin Owaisi’s AIMIM, which has for long been accused of being a “spoiler” that cuts into “secular” votes.
The Janata Dal-United sought to make up for the absence of Kumar, its de facto leader, with active canvassing by top office-bearers like national president Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan and parliamentary board chairman Upendra Kushwaha.
The BJP campaign was steered by its leaders belonging to the state and it received a boost in the last couple of days when Chirag Paswan, an estranged ally, canvassed in support of its candidates.
