New Delhi:
It's a battle of prestige for Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar as the results of a by-poll to the Maharajganj Lok Sabha seat will be declared today. The primary contest is between strongman Prabhunath Singh of Lalu Prasad's Rashtriya Janata Dal and state education minister P K Shahi of the Janata Dal (United).
Lalu campaigned extensively across Maharajganj, calling this the semifinal ahead of the state elections. Mr Kumar, on the other hand, brushed aside Lalu's challenge, effectively dubbing him a pretender in Bihar.
It is also a crucial day for West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee as votes will be counted for the Howrah Lok Sabha seat where election was held on June 2.
These were the first major polls in the state after the chit fund scam broke and it's a three-way fight for prestige between the Trinamool Congress, the CPM and the Congress. The Trinamool won the seat in 2009. But that was when the Trinamool and Congress were allies, and Congress had not fielded a candidate. So it remains to be seen if the Trinamool is able to retain its advantage in the constituency.
Counting is also being held in Porbandar and Banaskantha parliamentary constituencies and four Assembly seats in Gujarat. Former Congress Member of Parliament Vitthal Radadia and his son, who joined the BJP, are contesting for two of the Assembly seats.
The by-polls are seen as a crucial test for the Congress in the state, as the party currently holds all the seats. A win for the BJP will be leveraged by supporters of Chief Minister Narendra Modi as further evidence of his popularity.