Patna, June 29: The BJP today retained the Purnea Assembly seat with a far bigger margin than its 2010 victory, demonstrating, resoundingly, that Nitish Kumar — the steward of the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) — has kept his clout and charisma intact in Bihar.

Kiran Keshari, widow of slain legislator Rajkishore Keshari, defeated her nearest rival, Congress’s Ramcharitra Yadav, by 23,665 votes. Rajkishore had defeated the same opponent by over 15,000 votes in 2010.

CPM’s Amit Sarkar, who had been supported by Lalu Prasad’s RJD, trailed third, ending up with 17,113 votes. The Purnea bypoll, which took place on June 25, was necessitated by the murder of Rajkishore allegedly by a school principal, Rupam Pathak, in January.

The bypoll result has further shaken the Opposition parties which were already demoralised after the 2010 Assembly poll results. The RJD, LJP and the Congress cried hoarse over the Forbesganj police firing on June 3, which left four persons belonging to the minority community dead.

The Opposition parties had also sensed an opportunity in the manner in which Rupam had allegedly stabbed the four-time BJP legislator to death in full public view. She had accused Rajkishore of “physically abusing” her, goading her to take the extreme step in her defence. They conjectured that the incident had sullied the BJP’s image and it would benefit the Opposition in the bypoll.

But neither the Opposition’s vitriolic campaign against the police firing in Forbesganj nor Rupam’s allegation of attack on her modesty by the slain legislator appears to have influenced the electorate. If at all the voters showed some concern, it was for Kiran Keshari who won the seat with a thumping majority.

Usual to his style, the chief minister kept the celebrations low-key, thanking the Purnea voters for “reposing” their faith in the NDA. But his deputy, Sushil Kumar Modi, was more cheery and forthcoming: “The Opposition parties indulged in false propaganda over police firing in Forbesganj and tried to create a sense of panic among the Muslims against the NDA. But the voters — particularly from the minority community — have totally rejected the Opposition. This is evident from the margin of votes between Kiran Keshari and her rivals.”

What would have given jitters, particularly to the beleaguered RJD boss who had extended his last-minute support to Amit Sarkar, is the fact that Purnea has Muslims as a numerically preponderant community. Besides, the seat also has a sizeable number of Yadavs. Lalu’s success was based on his Muslim-Yadav (M-Y) support base. This combination appears to have suffered further dent in Purnea.

The RJD-LJP alliance fell apart in Purnea with the LJP supporting the Congress and the RJD backing the CPM.

But they can hardly take solace in the logic that the BJP won the seat because of the division of the “secular” votes between the RJD-supported CPM and the LJP-supported Congress. It is because Kiran Keshari has earned 6,552 votes more than what the CPM and the Congress have secured together. This means, even if the Congress and CPM had put up a common candidate, the NDA nominee would still have won.

The results have also shown that Pappu Yadav, a three-term Purnea MP who had been supporting Ramcharitra Yadav — his (Pappu’s) right hand man — from behind the bars, has lost whatever clout he had in the region in the recent past. Pappu’s wife and mother had lost in the 2009 and 2010 elections, heralding the end of the “Robin Hood” that Pappu was once known as.

Reacting over the result, a visibly miffed senior RJD leader said: “Jab khuda meharban, tab gadha pahalwan (Even a donkey becomes a robust wrestler when God is merciful to him).” Probably, the RJD leader was devoid of a clue to analyse the Purnea outcome.

Purnea — a seat bordering the north Dinajpur district of Bengal — was once a bastion of the CPM with its firebrand leader Ajit Sarkar representing it for four consecutive terms, till his death, allegedly by Pappu Yadav. His son, Amit Sarkar — a software engineer in Australia till he entered the poll fray for the first time in 2010 — has probably failed to revive his father’s charisma in the region. The CPM, which recently lost power in neighbouring Bengal, has, apparently, lost its old charm in Purnea too.