Bihar: BJP’s NP Singh wins Tirhut Teachers’ MLC seat by 594 votes

Patna: The BJP has wrested the Tirhut Teachers’ constituency seat in the Bihar Legislative Council from the Left, with NDA-backed candidate Narendra Prasad Singh, popularly known as NP Singh, defeating CPI candidate Sanjay Singh by 594 votes in the counting held in Muzaffarpur on Tuesday.

NP Singh secured 2,945 votes in the final elimination round, while independent candidate Bhushan Jha finished second with 2,351 votes.

Sanjay Singh, a two-term MLC who had represented the constituency, slipped to third place.

The counting took place at the divisional headquarters in Muzaffarpur.

During the first-preference vote count, BJP candidate NP Singh established a lead of 138 votes.

After the second-preference votes were counted, his lead increased to 159 votes.

However, no candidate secured the required quota to be declared elected.

In the second-preference count, NP Singh received 1,872 votes, followed by CPI candidate Sanjay Singh with 1,713 votes.

Independent candidate Bhushan Jha secured 1,650 votes.

As the counting process still did not produce a winner, officials proceeded to the elimination round under the applicable counting rules.

NP Singh eventually secured victory with 2,945 votes, finishing 594 votes ahead of Bhushan Jha.

Bhushan Jha had initially received a ticket from the Jan Suraaj Party but later returned it to party founder Prashant Kishor and contested the election as an independent candidate.

Jan Suraaj subsequently fielded Shyam Nandan Yadav, who failed to emerge as a significant contender.

Narendra Prasad Singh, the winning candidate in the MLC election from the Tirhut Teachers' constituency, stated, "Today's victory belongs to the workers and leaders of the NDA constituent parties. This is a victory for Chief Minister Samrat Chaudhary and the workers of the NDA. The government will continue to work in the best interests of teachers; it is because of this that the teachers placed their trust in the government and helped secure this win."

The Tirhut Teachers’ constituency recorded a voter turnout of 82.99 per cent in polling held on October 23 as part of elections for eight Bihar Legislative Council seats.

NP Singh’s victory marks a setback for the CPI in a constituency previously represented by Sanjay Singh for two consecutive terms.

The result also gives the BJP a seat previously held by the Left in the Bihar Legislative Council.

At the time the initial results were reported, the formal announcement was still awaited.

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