NEW DELHI, 27 May 2004 — Rashtriya Janata Dal candidates in Bettiah and Siwan won their Lok Sabha seats respectively by a comfortable margin. Raghunath Jha won from Bettiah by a margin of over 35,000 votes, beating Madan
Prasad Jaiswal of BJP. Film personality and independent candidate Prakash Jha
Finished third. In Siwan, Mohammad Shahabuddin of RJD defeated his nearest rival Amarnath Yadav of the CPI-ML(L).
These victories have increased the number of RJD MPs to 23. Earlier, the RJD-led secular alliance in Bihar won 26 of 37 Lok Sabha. This tally has now gone up to 28 out of 39 seats.
Re-election to 429 booths in Bettiah constituency and 193 in Siwan was held on May 24.
The Election Commission had ordered re-election in these two seats after complaints of large-scale irregularities.
The Election Commission had countermanded the election of the Chapra constituency after receiving the same complaints from BJP and other candidates against RJD’s Laloo Prasad Yadav. Former union minister, Rajiv Pratap Rudi was the BJP candidate from Chapra. The re-election to this seat will be held on May 31.
