Patna: Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party (RLJP), led by former Union minister Pashupati Kumar Paras, has staked its claim over the Tarari assembly seat in return for its unconditional support to the NDA during the recent Lok Sabha elections.
Tarari, located in Bhojpur district, is one of four assembly seats where bypolls will be held following the election of sitting MLAs to the Lok Sabha.
RLJP national spokesperson Shravan Kumar Agarwal said despite not being allocated any seats to contest in the Lok Sabha polls, the party supported the NDA.
“The RLJP decided to stay with the NDA and honestly campaigned for the coalition candidates. Given our commitment, the Tarari seat should be spared for the RLJP,” Agarwal said, adding the party has a natural claim over this seat. He pointed out that RLJP’s national vice-president Sunil Pandey, who represented the Tarari seat (formerly known as Piro) four times, narrowly lost in the 2020 assembly elections.
“The chances of Pandey emerging victorious from this seat are very high. So, the NDA must spare this seat to the RLJP,” Agarwal said, adding BJP’s Bihar incharge Vinod Tawde and CM Nitish Kumar should consider the party’s demand.
Interestingly, the RLJP has already started preparations for the Tarari byelection, despite the NDA leadership’s indecision. “Our party has begun preparations for Tarari byelection and also held a meeting of the RLJP’s core committee,” Agarwal said.
Byelections are scheduled for four assembly seats in the state, including Ramgarh, Belaganj and Imamganj, in addition to Tarari. These bypolls were triggered by the election of the sitting legislators to the Lok Sabha.
However, sources said the BJP was keen on contesting the Tarari and Ramgarh seats, while JD(U) is expected to field its candidate in Belaganj and HAM(S) is eyeing the Imamganj seat.

We also published the following articles recently