Bihar MLC polls: Ram Kripal Yadav says NDA setback in Teachers’ seat matter of concern

Patna: Bihar Minister Ram Kripal Yadav on Wednesday said NDA candidate Neeraj Kumar had practically won the Patna Graduate constituency in the Bihar Legislative Council elections, while expressing disappointment over Professor Nawal Kishor Yadav falling behind in the Teachers’ constituency.

“Two Legislative Council elections were underway in Patna, one for the Graduate constituency and the other for Teachers. The results of both are almost in. In the Graduate constituency, the NDA candidate, Shri Neeraj Kumar, has practically won. However, in the Teacher constituency, Professor Nawal Kishor Yadav has fallen behind. I feel this should not have happened,” Ram Kripal Yadav told IANS.

He highlighted Professor Nawal Kishor Yadav’s five-term record of raising teachers’ concerns and working to resolve their problems.

“Nawal ji had been continuously fighting for teachers for five terms, making every possible effort to resolve their issues and firmly raising their voice from the government level up to universities. But perhaps success could not be achieved this time, even though people had elevated him up the ladder of success five times before,” he said.

Describing the development as a setback, the minister added, “It is definitely a setback for all of us, and I consider it a setback for teachers as well.”

Meanwhile, Bihar Legislative Assembly Speaker Prem Kumar said the election results reflected the people’s decision in a democracy and that the NDA was leading in the eight Graduate and Teachers’ constituencies.

“In a democracy, the people are the ultimate decision-makers. Elections were held in eight Graduate and Teachers’ constituencies, and the results are now coming in, with the NDA leading,” he said.

Prem Kumar said the NDA was confident of winning five seats, while acknowledging the possibility of losing three.

“We are confident of winning five seats, while there is a possibility of losing three seats. Our party and the NDA will review the reasons for these possible defeats so that we can perform better in future elections,” he said.

Claiming that the political atmosphere across the country favoured the NDA, he added that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s efforts had played an important role.

Minister Santosh Suman said, “Last time, we had three seats, while this time we are winning four to five seats. One candidate supported by us, who was contesting as a rebel candidate, has also won from one seat. Overall, if we make a comparative assessment, our results are better than last time. However, we had expected more, so we will identify the reasons and try to improve.”

JD(U) National General Secretary, Shyam Rajak, however, urged caution while commenting on the results, saying that the party was still awaiting official information on some seats.

“We have received information about some seats, but there is no official information about the remaining seats. Until the official reports are received, commenting on these matters serves no purpose. Let the complete official information about all eight seats come in first, and then we can comment,” Rajak said.

According to the results and counting trends available, results for five of the eight constituencies had been declared, while counting was continuing in the remaining three.

In the Saran Teachers’ constituency, Independent candidate Dr Rahul Raj was declared elected. In the Patna Teachers’ constituency, Dr Sanjeev Kumar of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) won.

In the Patna Graduate constituency, JD(U) candidate Neeraj Kumar was declared the winner, while BJP candidate Narendra Singh won the Tirhut Teachers’ constituency. Dr Suresh Prasad Rai of Jan Suraaj was elected from the Darbhanga Teachers’ constituency.

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