BJP may let RLSP contest Harlakhi bypoll

Patna: Setting aside all speculation regarding the NDA's candidate for the byelection to Harlakhi assembly seat in Madhubani district, BJP sources on Sunday said the party is in no mood to field its candidate.
They said the sitting MLA-elect from the seat was Basant Kumar from the Bihar NDA partner Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP), and, therefore, the party would not stake its claim.The by-election would be held on February 13. Kumar, who had won the Harlakhi assembly seat during the elections held last year, had died due to heart failure a day before he was to take oath of membership of the House. Kumar is survived by three sons.
Kumar had defeated the nearest contender Mohammad Shabir from the Congress, putting CPI nominee Ram Naresh Pandey in the third position, and Independent candidate Ramashish Yadav at the fourth position. "The seat belongs to the RLSP. Most probably, one of the sons of the deceased (Kumar) would be in contest on the RLSP ticket," said a BJP source, adding it is the internal matter of the RLSP.
"No, the BJP is not contemplating to contest the seat. Since its sitting MLA-elect died, the RLSP nominee from the Kumar family will get sympathy votes," added another BJP source.
Otherwise, the speculation in political circles was that Independent candidate Yadav, who was at the fourth position in the 2015 assembly poll, has been trying to get entry into the BJP to contest the seat on its ticket. Incidentally, a section in the state BJP was amenable to the idea, because the margin of Kumar's win in the 2015 poll was not big. The calculation was that if the votes polled by Kumar and Yadav were added, it would give unassailable position to Yadav. However, a major section in the state BJP felt that the party should not be seen as violating norms of the 'coalition dharma', BJP sources said. Moreover, there was no guarantee that Yadav's supporters and sympathizers would stick to him, now that the state has the government of the three-party grand alliance.