RJD bags Jehanabad, leads in Araria Lok Sabha seat (Third Lead)

Patna, March 14 (IANS) The RJD on Wednesday won the Jehanabad Assembly seat and established a winning lead in the Araria Lok Sabha seat in Bihar, but the BJP bagged the Bhabhua Assembly seat, officials on Wednesday said.

The Rashtriya Janata Dal's Suday Yadav defeated Janata Dal-United candidate Abhiram Sharma by 35,036 votes in Jehanabad.

Bharatiya Janata Party candidate Rinki Pandey defeated Sambhu Patel of the Congress, a RJD ally, by 15,000 votes in Bhabua.

A formal announcement of the two victories will be made soon, the officials said.

In Araria, RJD candidate Sarfaraz Alam was leading by more than 60,000 votes over the BJP's Pradeep Kumar Singh.

It was a direct fight between the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance and the Grand Alliance of the RJD-Congress in Bihar, a year ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.

RJD leaders and workers celebrated across the state by distributing sweets and bursting fire crackers.

The by-elections were held on Sunday.