After Rashtriya Janata Dal candidate Sonu Kumar Rai’s victory in the Bihar Legislative Council by-election for the Bhojpur-Buxar seat, party leader Tejashwi Yadav congratulated him and praised party workers and voters for their support. Yadav also reiterated the party’s call for elections to be conducted using ballot papers instead of Electronic Voting Machines, expressing concerns about transparency and fairness in the electoral process. He emphasized that the party had faced challenges in previous elections due to alleged administrative manipulation and technical issues.
Yadav highlighted the delays in announcing election results, questioning the need for late-night result declarations and advocating for a return to traditional ballot paper voting for increased democratic transparency. He underscored the importance of public trust in the electoral system and reiterated his support for ballot paper-based elections. Sonu Kumar Rai emerged victorious in the by-election, securing the Bhojpur-Buxar Local Authorities constituency seat by defeating the Janata Dal (United) nominee Kanhaiya Prasad by 340 votes. The voting took place on May 12, with the counting process commencing at 8 a.m. on Thursday.
In a total of 5,956 votes cast, Sonu Kumar Rai garnered 2,486 votes, surpassing Kanhaiya Prasad who received 2,146 votes. Another candidate, Manoj Upadhyay, obtained 636 votes, while 621 votes were deemed invalid. The counting process was carried out in two rounds across 13 tables, culminating in Rai’s victory in the by-election.
