Patna (Bihar) [India], October 15 (ANI): With just two days remaining for the filing of nominations for the first phase of the Bihar Assembly polls, political activity has intensified across the state, with major NDA constituents, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Janata Dal (United), and Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), announcing their lists of candidates.
However, the opposition Mahagathbandhan is yet to finalise its seat-sharing arrangement among its partners, including the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Congress, and other allies.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) released its second list of 12 candidates for the forthcoming Bihar Assembly elections, taking the total tally of declared candidates to 83 out of 101 seats allotted to the party in the final seat-sharing distribution within the NDA.
According to the list, folk singer Maithili Thakur will contest from Alinagar in Darbhanga district, while former IPS officer Anand Mishra, who earlier served as Youth Wing President in Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraaj, will contest from Buxar.
Mishra was earlier part of Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraaj and had led the party’s Youth Wing as president.
After being declared a candidate from Bihar’s Alinagar constituency, folk singer and BJP leader Maithili Thakur on Wednesday expressed gratitude to the party leadership for the opportunity.
In a post on X, Thakur said that she will continue to work with dedication and commitment to serve the people of Alinagar.
“I express my heartfelt gratitude to the entire central and state leadership of the BJP and NDA for expressing their trust in me. I will continue to work with complete dedication and commitment to serve the people of Ali Nagar and to take the BJP-NDA’s public welfare policies to every village and every individual,” she posted on X.
According to the list released, Ram Chandra Prasad has been fielded from Hayaghat, Ranjan Kumar from Muzaffarpur, Subhash Singh from Gopalganj, Kedar Nath Singh from Baniapur, Chhoti Kumari from Chapra, Vinay Kumar Singh from Sonepur, Birendra Kumar from Rosera, Siyaram Singh from Barh, Mahesh Paswan from Agiaon and Rakesh Ojha from Shahpur.
The party had already declared its candidate in the other 71 seats on Tuesday.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar-led JD(U) released its first list of 57 candidates, notably excluding any Muslim candidates. The list includes JD(U) state president Umesh Khushwaha (Mahanar), Bihar Rural Development Minister Shravan Kumar (Nalanda), and Sunil Kumar (Bhore-SC).
Chirag Paswan-led Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) also announced the first list of 14 candidates out of the 29 seats allotted to the party in the final seat-sharing distribution within the NDA for the Bihar elections.
According to the list announced, the party has fielded Raju Tiwari from Govindganj, Sanjay Kumar Singh from Simri Bakhtiyarpur, Vishnu Dev Paswan from Darouli, Seemant Mrinal from Garkha, Surendra Kumar from Sahebpur Kamal, Sanjay Kumar from Bakhri, and Babulal Shaurya from Parbatta.
Mithun Kumar will contest the polls from Nathnagar, Sunil Kumar from Paliganj, Hulas Pandey from Brahmpur, Rajiv Ranjan Singh from Dehri, Sangita Devi from Balrampur, Rani Kumari from Makhdumpur and Prakash Chandra from Obra, the party said.
Jitan Ram Manjhi’s Hindustan Awam Morcha (Secular) had already announced its list of six candidates on Tuesday, among whom four were sitting MLAs.
However, even after the finalisation of seat-sharing among the NDA allies, the alliances seem to be sending mixed signals.
RLM chief Upendra Kushwaha told reporters at Delhi airport, “Upendra, “There are some issues in the alliance that need to be dissolved. We have come here to meet the Union Home Minister, and I am hopeful that every issue will be resolved.”
Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Sinha filed his nomination from Lakhisarai. Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Chaudhary and Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta were also present on the occasion.
On the other side, Mahagathbandhan, comprising Lalu Yadav’s Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Congress, Mukesh Sahni’s Vikasheel Insaan Party (VIP) and other left parties, are still engaged in talks to finalise the seat-sharing.
Meetings are being held among Mahagathbandhan partners to reach a mutually acceptable formula for seat distribution.
However, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav filed nomination from the party’s stronghold, Raghopur constituency.
Yadav expressed confidence in winning his seat from the Raghopur assembly constituency.
Speaking to reporters here, he reiterated his party’s commitment to addressing unemployment and eliminating corruption in the state.
Tejashwi highlighted the growing public dissatisfaction with the current regime and asserted that the Mahagathbandhan alliance is poised to secure victory in the upcoming state elections.
“The people of Raghopur have trusted me twice and I believe this time as well they will trust me… You all know our party’s aim to remove unemployment from the state and build Bihar again…. The people of the state are tired of the corruption here and want new beginnings…Our Mahagathbandhan is contesting on 243 seats and I am sure this time there will be a change of government in the state,” he said.
Speaking to ANI, RJD leader Mrityunjay Tiwari said that the people of Bihar want a Tejashwi Yadav-led government.
“Everything is fine in the Mahagathbandhan, there are no ifs or buts, no conflicts. The Mahagathbandhan is united and is fighting the elections strongly. With immense public support and the blessings of the people, a Tejashwi government is going to be formed in Bihar,” he said.
Meanwhile, Jan Suraaj founder Prashant Kishor announced that he will not contest the upcoming Bihar assembly elections.
“The members of the party have decided that I should focus on working for the victory of the other candidates of the party, so I am not contesting the elections,” Kishor told ANI.
Bihar will go to the polls on November 6 and 11, and the results will be declared on November 14. (ANI)