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Patna,(BiharTimes): The shocking defeat of six-time veteran Congress MLC, Prof. Arun Kumar, in the latest round of election for the Bihar Legislative Council has come as a surprise to both chief minister Nitish Kumar as well as RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav as he had the tacit support of both the parties.
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Since Arun has a very good relationship with both the leaders he was fully supported by Janata Dal (United) and RJD notwithstanding his being the candidate of Congress.
Incientally Prof Kumar was defeated by a JD(U) rebel Sanjeev Shyam Singh contesting as an Independent candidate in the Gaya Teachers’ constituency. The ruling NDA won three of the four Council seats that went to the polls on April 10.
One of those who won is Mahachandra Prasad Singh, who recently quit the Congress to join Janata Dal (United). A little known Sanjeev Shyam Singh was denied the Janata Dal (United) ticket and expelled from the party soon after filing his nomination papers as an Independent candidate. He secured 3,804 votes against Prof. Kumar’s 3,230 in a constituency of 11,687 voters, of which 8,278 cast their votes. Reports said that several senior JD(U) and BJP leaders reportedly extended full support to the rebel candidate. This reminded one of the Bihar Assemblyelection in which several party leaders openly supported rebel candidates.
However, in that case Nitish managed to win––not this time. Teachers appointed on contractual basis reportedly voted against the one whom Nitish Kumar supported. Besides, it seems there was no zeal left to vote for Prof Kumar (80) for the seventh time in succession. His good personal rapport with the chief minister had helped him remain the acting chairman of the Legislative Council for about four years after Jabir Hussain, the then Chairman, got elected to Rajya Sabha.
It needs to be reminded that in the 2005 election, Singh contested as an official JD(U) candidate, but was defeated by Prof. Kumar by a slender margin.
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