Patna, May 31: Counting of votes for the byelection to the Jokihat Assembly seat in Bihar was underway on Thursday with the ruling JD-U candidate Murshid Alam taking an early lead with over 33,500 ballots, according to Election Commission officials.
Opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) candidate Shahnawaz Alam is trailing behind Murshid Alam.
The Jokikhat seat fell vacant following the resignation of JD-U MLA Sarfaraz Alam, who joined the RJD.
A third Independent candidate Mohammad Shabbir is also in the fray.
Voting for the seat took place on Monday.
The JD-U was backed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), while the RJD had the support of the Congress and Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) of former Chief Minister of Jitan Ram Manjhi.
Jokihat is a Muslim-dominated Assembly constituency, considered stronghold of former Union Minister and Shahnawaz Alam's father Mohammad Taslimuddin, who died last year leading to bypolls in Araria Lok Sabha seat.
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Shimla, Nov 25: A woman claiming to be a panchayat official was caught on camera warning two shawl sellers from Kashmir against trading their wares in Himachal Pradesh.
The 2.46-minute video that surfaced on social media showed the woman telling the two Kashmiris not to come to the village and asking them to say "Jai Shri Ram" to prove they are "Hindustani."
Sharing the video on X on Monday, National Convenor of the Jammu and Kashmir Students Association, Nasir Khuehami, claimed that the video was from a village in Himachal's Hamirpur district.
"No one will purchase their products, buy from our Hindu people," the woman is seen telling others in the video. "Don't come in my area," she told shawl sellers.
Later in a post, Khuehami said that the chief minister's office had assured action against anyone found intimidating Kashmiris.
However, when contacted, the CM's media advisor Naresh Chauhan told the PTI that there was no such complaint. The matter would be looked into if any complaint is registered, he said.
A large number of Kashmiris come to the state to sell shawls and other products, while hundreds of Kashmiris labourers work in the state round the year.
It is highly condemnable that a woman, wife of a Sarpanch, is exhibiting communal behavior toward two Kashmiri men who traveled to Himachal Pradesh for business purposes. Her communal actions, as seen in the video, where she threatens them to leave the state, instructs villagers… pic.twitter.com/IIw2dkZPGt
— Nasir Khuehami (ناصر کہویہامی) (@NasirKhuehami) November 25, 2024