RJD wins Palamu Lok Sabha seat placing BJP in 3rd

Ranchi, Apr 2 (UNI) The six-month-old Madhu Koda-led UPA government today received a shot in the arm after RJD's Ghuran Ram won the Palamu Lok Sabha seat, defeating his nearest jailed rival Kameswar Baitha(BSP) by 22,327 votes.

The RJD retained the seat, trouncing 14 other aspirants in the March 29 byelection, the result for which saw BJP's Jawahar Paswan in the third place.

Mr Ram secured 1,64,202 votes, while the BSP nominee, also a former naxal and presently lodged in Garwah jail, polled 1,41,875 of the total 6,81,173 votes.

The BJP managed 1,41,329 votes followed by Jharkhand Vikash Morcha(Democratic)'s Prabhat Kumar (1,16,036).

On March 29, an estimated 13.66 lakh electorate exercised their franchise in the naxal-dominated Palamu Lok Sabha bypoll, which was necessitated after Manoj Bhuiyan(RJD) quit his Lok Sabha membership following the cash-for-query scam.

Meanwhile, with the ruling UPA eulogising its policy and the Opposition NDA charging the former with resorting to foul means to win Palamu, former Chief Minister Babulal Marandi said the political situation in Jharkhand still warranted mid-term poll for better governance.

As the result was announced, Mr Marandi, whose newly formed Jharkhand Vikash Morcha (Democratic) was placed fourth, told a press conference here that the UPA allies were not necessarily required to term the verdict as a mandate for them as their (UPA's) percentage of vote shared had declined in the constituency.

Same was the case with the NDA , Mr Marandi, MP from Koderma, said and asserted that the JVM (Democratic) being in the fray for the first time had bagged 1,16,036 votes against BJP's tally of 1,41,329.

Asked about his last month statement that he would oust the UPA government by April, Mr Marandi said the issue was still on as the Palamu verdict could not be seen as a mandate for the Koda government.

On the other hand, elated over the result, Chief Minister Madhu Koda hit back hard on Mr Marandi, saying he should now retire from politics.

Mr Koda also did not sopare former Speaker Inder Singh Namdhari, who resigned from the Assembly membership as well as the JD (U) over his support for the BJP nominee in Palamu.

Heaping praise on Railway Minister Lalu Yadav, Mr Koda said his popularity among the mass helped the UPA win and claimed that it also established that people of Jharkhahnd accepted his government's policy.

Leader of Opposition and former Chief Minister Arjun Munda charged the UPA with misusing government machinery to win the bypoll and expressed doubt over the incidence of 200 EVMs found unmanned.

State congress president Pradeep Kumar Balmuchu thanked the people of Palamu for reposing faith in the UPA and said the party would work hard for the local body polls due in the state.

The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha also echoed the allies' euphoria over the poll verdict.

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