JD(U) nominee Satish Sah trounced RJD candidate Mukhtar Ahmad in the byelection to the Laukaha assembly seat whose result was declared here on Sunday. 

Surprisingly, the JD(U) won the bypoll by a margin of over 22,000 votes. Of the 1.45 lakh electorate, out of a total of 2,64,000, who cast their votes on November 30 last, the JD(U) polled 64,425 while the RJD came a distant second with 41,662 votes. 

The remaining 11 candidates in the fray, including the Congress and the JD(S) nominees, forfeited their security deposits. By retaining the Laukaha seat along with Daraunda and Purnia seats, bypolls to which were held earlier, the JD(U) under the leadership of Nitish Kumar and its alliance partner BJP has decisively demonstrated that it hardly faces any challenge from any other political dispensation in the state as of now, claimed a senior youth wing leader of the JD(U) in the district, Nemi Kumar. 

The byelection, caused by the sudden demise of the late Hari Prasad Sah, the former panchayati raj minister, had assumed significance owing to the seemingly rediscovered political aggressiveness of the RJD. 

Though the late Hari Prasad, a popular socialist leader of the area,won thrice from here, once as a Samata Party nominee, fielding his unassuming and somewhat non-political son Satish was not seen initially as a sound political move in political circles.The RJD had put its bet on a Congress turncoat, Mukhtar Ahmad, in the hope of solidifying its Muslim-Yadav combination. The byelection has also sent strong signals to two other players in the area, the Congress and the JD(S). 

Though Congress' strongman in the area Kripa Nath Pathak succeeded in getting the party symbol for his man, Ram Sunder Tarait, the Congress performance has been totally disappointing. 

Victory of people,says Nitish Kumar 

Terming the JD(U)'s victory in the by-poll to Laukaha assembly seat in Madhubani district, CM Nitish Kumar said it is the victory of the agenda of development with justice and also the victory of the people of Laukaha assembly segment who made the JD(U) victorious by a big margin. 

"Every section of the society voted for us rising above the caste and creed," he said and added that the JD(U) winning candidate would come up to the expectations of the people of the constituency.