JAMSHEDPUR: As if representing the ouster of chief minister Raghubar Das from

East, on Monday, BJP flags were missing from the counting centre at the Jamshedpur Co-operative College. Though a large congregation, comprising mainly BJP and JMM supporters, assembled outside the counting centre, supporters of the

party could be seen celebrating the victory of BJP’s rebel minister Saryu Rai, who fought the election as an Independent candidate.

Das could maintain his thin margin over Rai till only the third round of counting, and from the fourth round the latter has been leading. As Rai’s margin kept rising after every round of counting, celebrations by enthusiastic supporters, who burst crackers and distributed sweets, increased.

Amid loud beating of drums, slogans of “Goodbye Raghubar chacha, welcome Saryu chacha”, the area around the counting centre kept being filled by young supporters of Rai. For many, who arrived to witness the celebrations, it was the debacle of Das that mattered the most to them. “Arrogance was the reason behind the defeat of Ravana and so is the case with Raghubar Das today,” echoed 57-year-old Kasidih resident Pandit Kalyan Jha. With a humiliating performance of the party in Kolhan region, not a single recognised BJP leader could be seen at the party’s camp outside the counting centre to interact with the media. The only concern of the ones at the camp seemed to be Rai’s margin of lead. “The government kept overlooking issues of unemployment, slowdown leading to closer of the factories and price rise, which eventually lead to BJP’s defeat,” said BJP leader Mukul Mishra, who worked for Saryu Rai this time.

Smearing gulal on each other, Rai’s supporters shouted slogans against Das and said, “The reign of terror has come to an end in Jamshedpur