The Mahagathbandhan faced a major setback and is set to routed in Bihar, where the ruling National Democratic Alliance (BJP) is marching towards a landslide victory. According to the trends on the Election Commission of India (ECI), the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), which was leading the grand alliance in Bihar, is leading on just 27 seats.
However, the biggest setback for the RJD is that Tejashwi Yadav is losing from his seat and party bastion Raghopur, where his main challenger is Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Satish Kumar Yadav. Presently, Tejashwi is trailing against Satish Kumar by 9,912 votes.
Who is Satish Kumar Yadav?
A two-time district councillor, Satish Kumar belongs to the Yadhuvanshi community. He had began his political career as an RJD leader, but switched to the Nitish Kumar-led Janata Dal United (JDU) in 2005. He had contested against former chief minister Rabri Devi from Raghopur in 2005, but had lost to her. However, he defeated Rabri in the 2010 assembly polls by a margin of 13,006 votes.
In 2015, he switched to the BJP after the JDU joined the Mahagathbandhan following which the Raghopur seat was allotted to the RJD. However, Satish Kumar failed to win this high-profile seat for the saffron party and lost by 22,733 votes. He once again tried his luck from Raghopur in 2020 assembly polls and contested against Tejashwi, but lost by a margin of 38,174 votes.
Raghopur, an RJD bastion
Raghopur, a Yadav stronghold, has long been a bastion of the RJD and Lalu Prasad Yadav's family. Lalu Yadav had won this seat in the 1995 and 2000 elections, while his wife had won Rabri Devi in 2000 bypolls, and the 2005 assembly polls. In 2015 and 2020 assembly elections, Tejashwi had won this seat.
The Yadavs make up to 31 per cent of the total population in Raghopur assembly constituency, which falls in the Vaishali district.
Meanwhile, assembly elections were held in two phases in Bihar - November 6 and 11. According to the ECI, Bihar witnessed an unprecedented voter turnout of 66.91 per cent this year, which was the highest in its history since 1951.
