Patna: Pushpam Priya Choudhary, who holds a master’s degree in development studies from the London School of Economics, has once again received a significant lesson in political realities from Bihar’s electorate. The chief of the Plurals Party, known for her commitment to remain masked until she wins an election, is likely to keep that mask on for another five years. In her second Assembly election, she garnered 1,403 votes in Darbhanga, falling behind BJP’s Sanjay Saraogi by a substantial margin of 96,050 votes. This defeat has strengthened her belief that the issue does not lie with her support base but rather with the voting machines.
In a passionate and somewhat convoluted social media post, Pushpam Priya claimed that the votes from her family, relatives, neighbors, and anyone who has ever shown her kindness had mysteriously gone to the BJP candidate. “This is statistically impossible,” she asserted, claiming that the consistent nature of her low vote count across various booths indicated extensive, targeted manipulation of the EVMs explicitly against her. With a dramatic flair, she remarked, “Perhaps the individual manipulating the EVMs was unaware that I was contesting from my hometown this time.” Observers may note that this is not Pushpam’s first encounter with unfriendly statistics.
In 2020, she infamously received fewer votes than NOTA in multiple constituencies, leading her to question the machines’ legitimacy then as well. However, her concerns in 2025 have escalated from vague doubts to serious accusations: “Plurals Party votes were transferred to the NDA.” Senior BJP leader Sanjay Saraogi, her opponent, has understandably refrained from commenting on her startling claim that Bihar’s voters collectively forgot to support Pushpam Priya even in her own neighborhood. For the time being, the mask remains, the blame for EVMs continues, and Bihar’s democratic landscape remains unchanged.
