RJD retains Mokama in assembly bypoll

The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) on Sunday retained the Mokama assembly seat of Bihar in a by-poll necessitated by the disqualification of its MLA Anant Kumar Singh.

Singh's wife Neelam Devi, who was the party's candidate, defeated her nearest BJP rival by a comfortable margin of more than 16,000 votes.

She polled 79,744 votes, while BJP's Sonam Devi got 63,003.

Singh got disqualified in July this year after conviction by a Patna court in a case related to recovery of arms and explosives from his residence.