Jakarta. Rock star Ahmad Dhani has failed in his bid to become Bekasi's deputy district head with quick count results showing him and his partner, district head candidate Sa'dudin from the Prosperous Justice Party, gaining only 24.84 percent of the votes.

A quick count by polling agency Jaringan Suara Indonesia, or JSI, showed Sa’duddin and Dhani trailing far behind incumbent district head Neneng Hassanah Yasin and her running mate Eka Supriatmadja, who got 43.29 percent of the votes.

The other nominees, Obon Tabroni and Bambang Sumaryana, Meliana Kartika Kadir and Abdul Kholik and Iin Farihin and K.H. Mahmud, got 15 percent, nine percent and six percent of the votes respectively.

JSI researcher Andi Nugroho said Dhani failed to take advantage of his popularity since during the campaign he was concentrating too much on the political squabble in Jakarta.

"Yes, that's one of the reasons. His mind was on Jakarta," Andi said at a press conference in Jakarta on Wednesday evening (15/02).

Andi said Dhani had also underestimated his rivals, who are far from weak. As the incumbent and a representative of the Golkar Party, Neneng has a solid track record and strong support at grassroots level in Bekasi.

JSI research manager Rudi Ruswandi pointed out that Neneng’s approval rating has always been high right up until the election. "All things point to Neneng leading Bekasi again," Rudi said.

The quick count, which used a multistage random sampling method, was conducted at 230 polling stations from a total of 3,958 polling stations in Bekasi. The margin for error is at around 1 percent.