New Delhi [India], October 15 : The Bharatiya Janata Party has fielded Deputy Chief Ministers Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Sinha from Tarapur and Lakhisarai constituencies, respectively, in the first list released for the high-stakes Bihar Assembly elections.
The party has also fielded former Deputy CMs Renu Devi and Tarkishore Prasad from Bettiah and Katihar seats, respectively.
The party has also fielded former Union Minister and BJP leader Ramkripal Yadav, once a close confidant of RJD supremo Lalu Yadav from Danapur assembly seat.
However, Assembly Speaker Nand Kishore Yadav could not get a ticket from Patna Sahib; instead, the party has fielded Ratnesh Kushwaha from the seat.
BJP has also cut the ticket of Arun Kumar Sinha, who has been MLA since 15 years from the Kumrahar assembly. Sanjay Gupta has been fielded as a candidate from the seat.
The 71-members long list also contains seven female candidates - Renu Devi from Bettaih, Gayatri Devi from Parihar, Devanti Yadav from Narpatganj, Sweety Singh from Kishanganj, Nisha Singh from Pranpur, Kavita Devi from Korha (SC) and Rama Nishad from Aurai.
The BJP Central Election Committee has also approved names of Mangal Pandey for Siwan, Nitin Nabin for Bankipur, Prem Kumar for Gaya Town, Shreyasi Singh for Jamui, for the Bihar Assembly elections among others.
The BJP Central Election Committee met on October 12, under the chairmanship of Jagat Prakash Nadda to decide the names of the candidates for the assembly elections. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Home Minister Amit Shah, along with other members of the Central Election Committee, were present during the deliberations.
Meanwhile, in a major boost to the party, folk and devotional singer Maithili Thakur joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Patna in the presence of Bihar BJP President Dilip Jaiswal. Thakur is likely to contest the upcoming Assembly elections from Alinagar in Darbhanga, according to the sources.
NDA ally Hindustan Awam Morcha (Secular) also announced the list of its six candidates for the assembly polls, among whom four are sitting MLAs.
According to the list announced, sitting MLA Deepa Kumari will contest the elections from the Imamganj seat, while sitting MLA Anil Kumar will contest from the Tikari seat. Sitting MLA Jyoti Devi will contest from Barachatti, and sitting MLA Prafull Kumar Manjhi will contest from the Sikandara seat.
The HAM(S) has fielded Romit Kumar from Atri Assembly constituency while Lalan Ram has been declared party's candidate from Kutumba Assembly constituency. Currently, the Kutumba seat is being held by Bihar Congress chief Rajesh Ram.
However, even after the finalisation of seat-sharing among the NDA allies, the alliances seem to be sending mixed signals.
Amid reports of Bihar's NDA alliance facing internal tensions over seat-sharing, Jitan Ram Manjhi justified the anger of JD(U), stating that the decision to field candidates from their quota lies with Nitish Kumar.
He also warned that his party will contest against Chirag Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) in Bodh Gaya and Makhdumpur assembly constituencies. However, he also expressed confidence in the NDA's victory in the high-stakes Bihar elections.
Jitan Ram Manjhi said, "Their anger is justified. I agree with their anger. When the decision has been made, why is someone else fielding their candidate in seats allocated to JD(U)? Agreeing with them, I too will field my candidates in Bodhgaya and Makhdumpur...Agreeing with the step taken by Nitish Kumar, I am fielding my candidates in two seats. List is ready...NDA will win with a majority."
The move is seen as a challenge to Chirag Paswan's LJP, which has been allocated 29 seats in the Bihar assembly elections.
The ruling NDA had declared seat distribution among its constituents on Sunday. BJP and JD(U) will contest 101 seats each, the LJP (Ram Vilas) 29 seats and Rashtriya Lok Morcha and Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) on six seats each.
Even as the NDA has moved two steps further, the opponent Mahagathbandhan is yet to declare its candidate from the Raghopur seat. The constituents of Mahagathbandhan continued their deliberations and consultations to resolve the stalemate over seat distribution.
The Congress party's Central Election Committee (CEC) has approved a list of candidates for the Bihar Assembly elections and has gotten some clarity on the 'quality seats' they want to contest, party's Bihar president Rajesh Ram said on Tuesday.
After at least a 2-hour long meeting held at the party's office in Delhi, the party has made strong decisions on the "quality faces" for the assembly seats Congress plans to contest. However, Congress has not announced the seat sharing arrangement with its alliance partners as of yet, with party leaders Shakeel Ahmed and Rajesh Ram set to go to Patna on Wednesday and meet with their alliance partners.
"There is a two-point stand. Clarity on all our quality seats, as per our equation, has been acquired. After this 2-3 hour-long meeting, we can say that we have made strong decisions on quality faces for the Vidhan Sabha seats from Congress side. All such names have been approved by the CEC", Rajesh Ram said in a press conference after attending the party's CEC meet here.
Bihar will go to the polls on November 6 and 11, and the results will be declared on November 14.
Meanwhile, new entrant Prashant Kishor's Jan Suraaj has already released two lists of its candidates. Earlier in the day, party named Chanchal Singh as its candidate from the Raghopur seat for the Bihar Assembly elections.
This came amid the speculations that Jan Suraaj founder Prashant Kishor might contest from the high-profile seat.
The Raghopur assembly constituency, situated in Vaishali district of the state, is one of the key assembly constituencies with a rich history, as key leaders like Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) supremo and former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, his wife Rabri Devi, and their son Tejashwi Yadav have represented the seat.
Lalu Prasad Yadav won the seat twice, while Rabri Devi secured it three times, serving as Chief Minister on both occasions. Tejashwi Yadav has held the seat twice, in 2015 and 2020, and has served as Deputy CM and Leader of Opposition.
The constituency has seen significant electoral battles between the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and primary parties like the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Janata Dal (United).
The last day of filing nominations for the first phase of assembly polls in Bihar is October 17.
In these elections, the NDA will be up against the INDIA bloc, led by Tejashwi Yadav of the RJD, the Congress, the CPI (ML) led by Deepankar Bhattacharya, the CPI, the CPM, and Mukesh Sahani's Vikasheel Insaan Party (VIP). This time, Bihar will also see the entry of a new player in the form of Prashant Kishor and his party Jan Suraaj Party.