Jamshedpur: The assembly poll results in Bihar hit the headlines across the country, and for people in Jharkhand, it is even more important than their own Ghatshila bypoll result. Many of the Jharkhand residents said they were more interested in the Bihar results as they have an emotional as well as a family connection.
Their enthusiasm was evident even outside the Jamshedpur Cooperative College, where the bypoll counting took place. Functionaries and cadres of both the INDIA bloc and NDA at the counting area kept on checking their phones and other electronic devices to know the round-by-round results of the election in the neighbouring state.
Talking to TOI on Friday, Rajiv Ojha, a BJP functionary, said, “I am more interested in the outcome of the Bihar election as the NDA will create a new history there by winning a thumping number of seats, beating Tejaswi and company. Jharkhand, 25 years ago, was a part of undivided Bihar. I, like the lakhs of others now living in Jharkhand, was originally born in Bihar. My ancestors are from Ara in Bihar, and even now, many of our family members live there. We have our ancestral farmland in Ara of Bihar, though we live in Jharkhand. So, we are naturally interested in the political developments in the neighbouring state.”
Similar sentiments also run in the INDIA bloc. Vikas Singh, a Congress functionary, said, “Though our alliance is winning the Ghatshila bypoll, I am sad as we have been marginalised by the NDA in Bihar. I was born in Bokaro before the formation of Jharkhand, and many of my family members live in Muzaffarpur. Our ancestral house and farmland are still in Bihar. So, we are very eager to know which party is forming govt there.”
Even police and security personnel were seen trying to get the latest Bihar poll results through their mobile phones. Some were even making calls to their friends and relatives to get more accurate data on their local seats.
Shambhunath, a policeman on duty at the poll counting centre, said, “Nitish babu has done a lot for the development of Bihar. Though I was born in Jamshedpur before the division of the state, my ancestors are from Buxar. I still have a house and land there. Lalu and Rabri had made Bihar famous as the ‘kidnapping capital’. It is Nitish who brought ‘Sushasan’ after Oct 2005. He has made fine roads in Bihar. Now, Patna to Seemanchal is just a six-hour drive, which was 15 hours in the Lalu era.”
Since the two-phase polls were announced in Bihar a month back, the hot topic for discussion in every nook and corner of the Steel City is who will win and form the govt in the neighbouring state..
NDA leaders were also seen in a festive mood after their camp won. Two leaders, who were once elected representatives during undivided Bihar — BJP’s Rahubar Das and JD(U)’s Saryu Rai — were seen rejoicing by distributing ladoos at their official residences here on Friday.
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