Patna, April 16 : Rashtriya Janata Dal candidate Amar Paswan is leading over his nearest rival Baby Kumari of BJP by a margin of 11,620 votes from Bochaha Assembly seat where polling was held on April 12. Official sources said Paswan got 26,623 votes while the former BJP Bihar vice president got 15,003 votes at the end of ninth round of counting andVikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) candidate Geeta Kumari, whose father had represented the seat eight times in the past, managed to get only 13,152 votes. By-election for Bochaha assembly seat was necessitated following death of sitting MLA Musafir Paswan of VIP. Thirteen candidates, including three women were in the fray. Although the outcome would not affect the prospects of the ruling NDA government in the state, the stake for the seat is high as it has turned into a prestige battle. RJD spokesperson Mritunjay Tiwari has claimed the results would set a new trend in the state. “Votes cutting across party affiliations favoured the RJD candidate,” he has told the media. The BJP had pulled out all stops to woo the electorate. Party’s MLAs and ministers were camping in each panchayat of the constituency. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had sacked VIP chief Mukesh Sahani from cabinet ahead of the polls. KKS ING