Lalus sons struggle as Tejashwi trails in Raghopur and Tej Pratap slips to third in Mahua

RJD leader and INDIA blocs chief ministerial face Tejashwi Yadav was trailing BJP candidate Satish Kumar by 4,829 votes in Bihars Raghopur assembly seat on Friday, which witnessed a tense, neck-and-neck contest throughout the day, according to Election Commission data. After 11 rounds of counting, Yadav had secured 40,100 votes, while Kumar had received 44,929 votes. Jan Suraaj Party candidate Chanchal Kumar was placed third with 1,392 votes. Yadav has held the Raghopur seat for the past decade and had previously defeated Kumar in both the 2015 and 2020 assembly elections. The contest saw several fluctuations, with Tejashwi briefly leading by only a few hundred votes after trailing earlier in the day. As anxiety rose among party supporters, the RJD leader said the party cadre and the public were prepared to respond to any unconstitutional activity during counting. Meanwhile news agency PTI reported that , a lesser-known RJD leader, Sunil Kumar Singh, stirred controversy by warning that a Nepal-like situation would unfold on the streets if the counting is halted, like in 2020. Across the state, the ruling NDA appeared headed for a sweeping mandate, opening substantial leads in more than 190 seats. Trends indicated that the BJP was on course to post its highest-ever tally in Bihar with an exceptional strike rate. Map on Rahul Gandhis 95 defeats becomes BJPs key attack line amid NDAs Bihar lead In Mahua, RJD supremo Lalu Prasads elder son and Janshakti Janta Dal chief Tej Pratap Yadav was in the third position after the 13th round of counting, as per Election Commission trends. Tej Pratap, who recently floated his new outfit following his expulsion from the RJD, had been in the fourth position after the eighth round. He was trailing by 27,132 votes behind Sanjay Kumar Singh of the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), who was leading the contest. After 13 rounds, Tej Pratap had polled 16,522 votes. Sanjay Kumar Singh stood far ahead with 43,654 votes, followed by RJDs Mukesh Kumar Raushan with 24,480 votes. AIMIMs Amit Kumar, who had earlier held the third position, slipped to fourth with 10,563 votes. Tej Pratap was expelled from the RJD on May 25 for six years, a day after he reportedly admitted on social media to being in a relationship with a woman. He later deleted the post, claiming that his account had been hacked. Lalu Prasad subsequently disowned him, citing irresponsible behaviour. (With inputs from PTI)