Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) candidate Shahnawaz Alam defeated Janata Dal-United (JD-U) nominee Murshid Alam by over 41,225 votes to bag the Jokihat assembly seat in the recent bypolls, the results for which were announced on Thursday.

Shahnawaz, the youngest son of late RJD stalwart Md Taslimuddin, secured 81,240 votes to Murshid’s 40,015. In 2015, Sarfaraz Alam – the eldest son of Taslimuddin – had successfully contested the seat on a JD-U ticket to get 92,890 votes.

Shahnawaz declared the results as a victory of the people, and said that he would develop Jokihat without “favour or prejudice”. He also attributed the win to his mother’s blessings.

“Our victory in Jokihat was not surprising,” said Sudhir Kumar Yadav, a local RJD leader. “We were sure that the JD-U candidate would not pose much of a threat.”

Taslimuddin’s family has won the Jokihat seat on 10 occasions since 1969.

The late politician had first contested the seat on a Congress ticket. He won the seat five times, and later went on to bag the Araria parliamentary seat. Sarfaraz, for his part, emerged victorious from Jokihat four times before winning the Araria Lok Sabha seat this year.

Kamal Kishor Yadav, another RJD leader, said Shahnawaz’s victory has heralded the start of another glorious political innings in the Taslimuddin clan. “He will contest the next Lok Sabha election (from Araria) too. Like his elder brother, Shahnawaz has the mettle to win any poll. In such an eventuality, Sarfaraz’s son Amir Farhaz will contest from the Jokihat seat,” he said.

Inside sources claim that a silent feud was raging in the family prior to the electoral contest, with Farhaz keen on contesting the bypolls but the party picking his uncle instead in keeping with the wishes of Taslimuddin’s widow. There are fears that an ego clash arising from Farhaz’s political ambitions and Shahnawaz’s victory in the bypolls may further throw the Taslimuddin family into turmoil.

The bypolls to four Lok Sabha seats and 10 assembly constituencies were held on Thursday.