The last of Bihar's four Teachers' constituency results was declared late on Tuesday night, with Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) candidate Dr Sanjeev Kumar defeating Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) veteran Nawal Kishore Yadav in the Patna Teachers' constituency by 1,057 votes. Kumar secured 4,487 votes against Yadav's 3,430, according to the final tally, and Jan Suraaj candidate Dr Divya Jyoti finished third.
Source: Patna Press
Zee News reported the same final figures in its live results coverage — Kumar on 4,487 votes and Yadav on 3,430, a margin of 1,057 — and noted that Yadav had been winning the Patna Teachers' seat for the past 30 years.
Source: Zee News
A five-term run ends
Yadav had won the seat five times consecutively and was considered one of the council's longest-serving members from a single constituency. The contest stayed close through the early rounds — Yadav held a narrow lead at one stage before Kumar moved ahead as counting progressed, Patna Press reported. In the first-preference count, Kumar had received 1,274 votes to Yadav's 1,242, according to live counting reports.
Source: The Daily Jagran
Counting for the Patna seats was held at the Bankipur Government Girls' Higher Secondary School. The Daily Jagran reported that supporters of the two candidates clashed inside the counting hall in Patna following a dispute over a ballot paper, and that the administration intervened and removed supporters of both sides from the hall.
Source: The Daily Jagran
Winner's reaction and an allegation
After the result, Kumar said it had been a very tough contest and that he would continue to fight for teachers' interests, Zee News reported. Kumar also alleged that votes in Yadav's tally had come from fake voters — an allegation reported as his claim, with no official confirmation of it in the coverage cited here.
Source: Zee News
Polling for Bihar's eight council seats — four Graduates' and four Teachers' constituencies — was held on October 23, with counting on October 27. The Teachers' constituencies recorded 74.55 per cent turnout, against 43.87 per cent in the Graduates' constituencies. Kumar's win completes the Teachers' results, after the Saran, Tirhut and Darbhanga seats were declared earlier, while counting on the Graduates' seats continued, with JD(U)'s Neeraj Kumar reported leading in Patna Graduates by 2,279 votes after seven rounds — a lead, not a declared result.
Source: Zee News
The first three Teachers' seats were declared earlier in the count. Read the earlier Bihar MLC results